By Adrianna Outlaw | Tuesday, September 28, 2021
Bulgarian wild card Dimitar Kuzmanov made a hometown stand upsetting Lorenzo Musetti 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 6-3 at the Sofia Open.
Photo credit: Sofia Open Facebook
A spirited Dimitar Kuzmanov made a rousing hometown stand upsetting Lorenzo Musetti 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 6-3 at the Sofia Open.
Playing his second ATP main-draw first-round of the season, the Bulgarian wild card rose to the challenge of break-point pressure. Kuzmanov saved 17 of 19 break points and converted three of six break points in a pulsating three hour, four-minute triumph.
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World No. 226 Kuzmanov was born in Sofia and has played Davis Cup for Bulgaria. The 28-year-old Kuzmanov will play 125th-ranked lucky loser Kamil Majchrzak for a quarterfinal spot.
Earlier, eighth-seeded John Millman broke serve six times in a 6-2, 6-4 sweep of Sweden's Mikael Ymer.
Closure did not come easy for Marcos Giron, who engaged in exchanges like this one with Jaume Munar scoring a 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-4 win over the 70th-ranked Spaniard on his 10th match point.
All 10 of Giron's match points came in a dizzying 20-minute final game.
Despite nine match-point chances dissipating, the 67th-ranked Giron did not flinch in scoring his seventh win in his last 10 matches. sealed a hard-fought win on his 10th ll of the American’s match points came in the final game, which lasted 20 minutes,
“The first set was close. I feel like I had chances, but he played better than me in the tiebreak,” Giron said. “I thought I did a great job resetting and adjusting in the second, and then in the third I was able to get the break early, but he kept holding on. I’m happy to get through that, it was a battle. That might be the most match points I’ve ever had.”