Grigor Dimitrov shocks Tomas Berdych to reach round four – Sony Ericsson Open 2012
Bulgarian star, Grigor Dimitrov, rallied past the seventh seed, Tomas Berdych, in a three set thriller at the Sony Ericsson Open 2012 on Sunday. He formulated a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 victory over the Czech to book a spot in the fourth round at this hard court tournament
taking place at Key Biscayne, Miami.
The underdog remained focused throughout the two hours and 15-minute marathon to carve out the victory against Berdych. The contestants previously met each other at the Rotterdam ATP event three years ago and after earning the limelight in this match, Dimitrov
extended his lead in the FedEx ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Head 2 Head series by 2-0 against the Czech.
"Today was a great match, a great day for me," said the beaming Bulgarian after the match. "I didn't expect to play that well. I didn't make enough first serves, though. [I] got a bit lucky at 4-4 in the third [set], and I was happy to close the match."
Ranked 101st in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Dimitrov made quick in-roads. He bagged the opener with a 6-3 win after cashing in one out of two break opportunities in the eighth game. The Bulgarian plucked his entire serves
after dusting away both breakpoints he encountered.
The frustrated higher ranked contender went out of control in the second set and plucked the opening three games successively with a break of serve. He then kept remaining serves and capitalised on his second break chance in the last game to seal the equaliser
by winning six games to two.
Dimitrov went into the overdrive mode in the final set and pulled out the victory with a 6-4 score line. He cashed in the lone break opportunity in the ninth game and then kept his serve once more to steal the show.
Next challenge for the Bulgarian is the world number nine, Janko Tipsarevic, who overpowered Alexandr Dolgopolov in three sets to set-up this clash. The Serb got the better of the 18th seed in almost two hours with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 score line in
their first meeting.
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