By Alberto Amalfi | Monday, July 25, 2016
Two points from elimination in the tie break, Grigor Dimitrov rallied for a 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-4 victory over 107th-ranked Yuichi Sugita in Toronto.
Photo credit: Reuters
The blue hard-court was beginning to look like rock bottom for Grigor Dimitrov.
Several steps inside the service line, Dimitrov had one foot out the door when he turned around the match in Toronto.
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Two points from elimination in the second set tie break, Dimitrov defended vigorously and flicked a lob winner ignting a 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-4 comeback victory over Rogers Cup debutant Yuichi Sugita.
The 40th-ranked Dimitrov, who had lost his opening-round match in six of his last seven tournaments, avoided his eighth opening-round exit of the season with some some scrambling in the second set and a sharper serve in the decider.
The 2014 Rogers Cup semifinalist will face 17-year-old Canadian wild card Denis Shapovalov in the second round.
Shapovalov, the Wimbledon junior champion, surprised 11th-seeded Nick Kyrgios, 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-3, exploiting 18 double faults from the Aussie.
It wasn't pretty, it was sometimes sloppy and it was hardly convincing, but Dimitrov, who had lost eight of his last 10 matches, showed some scrappiness in grinding out a desperately-needed win after a horrific start.
The 107th-ranked Sugita exploited a sloppy opening game to break Dimitrov then slid an ace to make up the break for 2-0.
On a sticky, humid day, Dimitrov sprayed shots struggling to find his range. Sugita scored a second straight break to stretch the lead to 3-0.
Lacking confidence and conviction on his shots, Dimitrov repeatedly nudged slice backhand short in the court as the Japanese continued to lift heavy topspin to his opponent's one-handed backhand bursting out to a 5-1 lead.
Twice Sugita served for the set but could not close as Dimitrov came all the way back to level the set. Undeterred, Sugita slapped a forehand down the line to break then served out the set.
Three straight breaks started the second set.
As the set progressed, the 25-year-old Bulgarian began controlling his forehand with greater consistency. Dimitrov drove an inside-out forehand breaking back for 3-all.
Bursting out to a 5-2 tie break lead, Sugita was one point from match point when Dimitrov dug out a tricky half volley, turned and sprinted with his back to the net to catch up to a lob. Forgoing the tweener, Dimitrov tossed up a forehand lob winner.
That dash sparked a run of four consecutive points as Dimitrov snatched the second set with a forehand volley winner bringing a smile to the face of former Andy Murray coach Dani Vallverdu, who sat in Dimitrov's box.
The 27-year-old Sugita, who was two points from a breakthrough win minutes earlier, lost the plot on serve midway through the decider. Mis-hitting a forehand, he spit up his fourth double fault handing Dimitrov the break and a 3-2 lead.
A revitalized Dimitrov won 20 of 24 points played on his serve in the final set closing in two hours, 27 minutes.
Gilles Muller belted 21 aces in a 7-6 (5), 6-1, sweep of Dmitry Tursunov. The 33-year-old Muller's reward is a second-round date with world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
In a match of Croatian Davis Cup teammates, Borna Coric rallied for a 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Ivan Dodig. The 19-year-old Coric, who defeated Jack Sock in the decisive match to clinch Croatia's Davis Cup quarterfinal conquest of the United States earlier this month, will face fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych in the second round.
American qualifier Ryan Harrison surprised Andrey Kuznetsov, 6-3, 6-1, in just 49 minutes. Harrison, who won 26 of 29 first-serve points, awaits the winner of the first-round match between Dudi Sela and ninth-seeded John Isner.
Kevin Anderson hit nine aces in a 7-6 (4), 6-3 decision over Viktor Troicki. Anderson will take on sixth-seeded Dominic Thiem in the second round.
Canadian wild card Peter Polansky wore down American qualifier Tim Smyczek, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. Polansky advanced to a second-round meeting with either 14th-seeded Benoit Paire or veteran qualifier Radek Stepanek.