By Chris Oddo | Thursday June 15, 2017
Jerzy Janowicz upended Grigor Dimitrov in Stuttgart for his biggest win since 2014, reaching his first ATP quarterfinal in nearly two years.
Photo Source: AP
He’s baaaaack! Former Wimbledon semifinalist Jerzy Janowicz has reached his first ATP quarterfinal since the summer of 2015 with a 7-6(4), 6-3 takedown of No.2-seeded Grigor Dimitrov.
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The former World No.14 has seen his ranking drop due to a pair of injury prone seasons, and earned just his second tour-level victory of 2017 today.
Janowicz only won eight return points over the course of the 78-minute affair, but he executed a beautiful clutch down-the-line backhand to take the critical mini-break and a 5-4 lead in the first set tiebreaker against Dimitrov. It was a sublime shot, struck from a fair bit behind the baseline for a clean winner, and it opened the door for the Pole to clinch the set on serve, which he did.
In the second set Janowicz saved all three break points he faced and took advantage of a poor service game by Dimitrov to break for 5-3.
He would serve the match out in the next game to set up a quarterfinal with Benoit Paire. See the full Mercedes Cup quarterfinal lineup below:
Paire notched a 6-2, 6-4 win over Germany’s Peter Gojowczyk. Third-seeded Tomas Berdych took out Bernard Tomic, 7-6(4), 6-2, while Feliciano Lopez notched a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Jeremy Chardy.