David Ferrer battles past Grigor Dimitrov into the round of 16 – Western & Southern Open 2011
Spaniard David Ferrer, seeded fifth at the event, bounced back from a deficit of one set, beating world number 56 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in three sets 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 in the second round at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati
on Wednesday. Ferrer needed two hours and 23 minutes to overcome his opponent in a close contest.
Dimitrov drew the first blood as he broke the Spaniard in the fourth game of the first set and won his next service game to grab a 4-1 lead. Ferrer broke back in the ninth game to reduce the trail to 4-5 but he lost his own serve
again in the next game, dropping the set 4-6.
The Bulgarian did not serve extraordinarily as he could not hit any ace and delivered two double faults in the first set. He hit just 57 percent of the first serves but his conversion rate was impressive as he converted a whopping
thirteen of the sixteen of them into points. The right-handed succeeded in converting both break points he received on Ferrer’s serve in the opening set.
Dimitrov held his serve in the first game of the second set to take a 1-0 lead. After that, it was all Ferrer show as he grabbed six games in a row, breaking the Bulgarian three times and winning all of his service games to capture
the set 6-1.
The Spaniard had mixed service performance as he committed a horrible five double faults and kept his first serve percentage at a meagre 41 percent in the second set. However, he managed to clinch eleven of the fourteen points
on the first serve in the second set. The 29-year-old returned outstandingly, winning thirteen of the 23 first return points in the second set.
Ferrer and Dimitrov put on a serving display in the final set as they held their serve in the first eleven games to take the score to 6-5 in favour of the Spaniard. Ferrer played aggressive shots in the twelfth game, breaking the
Bulgarian to seal the set 7-5.
The Spaniard hit two aces and 69 percent of the first deliveries, converting the same percentage of them into points in the deciding set. The 29-year-old won eight of the thirteen second service points and converted one of the
four break points he received in the final set.
Ferrer is slated to play tenth seed Gilles Simon of France in the round of 16.
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