By Erik Gudris | Thursday, August 18, 2016
Grigor Dimitrov earned his fourth straight win over Stan Wawrinka to reach the Cincinnati quarterfinals.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
For Grigor Dimitrov, his sometimes doubles partner Stan Wawrinka is a welcomed opponent in singles.
That was the case again at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati. Dimitrov ousted the No. 2 seed Wawrinka for his fourth straight win over the Swiss star.
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Both men came out swinging in the opening set with both matching each other for power and placement. Neither man faced a break point until the pivotal seventh game.
Wawrinka was the first to hold a break point at 30-40 but Dimitrov answered with a strong serve down the middle to pull to deuce. Dimitrov eventually held on to his serve for 4-all.
The first service break, and racquet break, came in the next game. It was now Wawrinka’s turn to fight off a break point. But Dimitrov earned another with a great backhand pass Wawrinka couldn’t handle. Wawrinka sent a forehand long on the next point to give Dimitrov the 5-4 lead. Frustrated, Wawrinka broke his racquet and soon earned a code violation.
Dimitrov, who won 90% of his first serve points, closed out the set 6-4.
The second set proved almost a copy of the first with both men exchanging great shotmaking from the baseline.
While both are known for their one-handed backhands, it was their forehands that proved the difference. At 4-3, Wawrinka shanked a forehand well out to hand Dimitrov another break point. Wawrinka then netted a forehand to give Dimitrov the 5-3 lead.
Dimitrov eventually served out the win 6-4, 6-4 to move into the quarterfinals in Cincinnati for the first time in his career.
The former top 10 Bulgarian, after a tough few months that included being defaulted out of Istanbul final, has enjoyed a turnaround during the summer hard court swing. Cincinnati is now his second straight ATP 1000 quarterfinal appearance this year.
With the win, Dimitrov also secured a top 32 seeding for the upcoming US Open.