Grigor Dimitrov beat Janko Tipsarevic 7-6, 6-1 in the second round of Monte Carlo.
It was the Bulgarian’s second top ten win after his victory over Berdych in Miami last season. Incidentally, it was Tipsarevic who beat him after that breakthrough win.
But this time, matters were in the Bulgarian’s favor. Dimitrov has been moving up the rankings while the Serbian has been moving down and so this was a prime chance for the more confident Dimitrov to beat a member of the top ten on the slide, the kind of match he needed to win if he was going to make the next step.
And this was the perfect surface to do it, too. The slow red clay of Monte Carlo gave the young Dimitrov all the time he needed to take the ball on the rise and strike it back deep and heavy, moving Tipsarevic from side to side and waiting for his chance. And this time, when it came, unlike in his other recent encounters with top tenners, namely Murray and Djokovic against whom he lost close first sets only to fade away, Dimitrov took it. Once he had set up his ground strokes to hit winners or it was safe to come to the net where he could display his fine touch and feel for the ball, he did so with aplomb. And, feeling inspired on this spring day in the South of France, Dimitrov surprised his opponent with drop shot winners, sending him scrambling toward the net to retrieve them only to be left standing, watching as they spun away. Indeed it was one of those days where everything worked for Dimitrov and nothing was beyond him, even diving into the clay and sending back a ball to get back into the point, which, being the kind of day it was, he went on to win.
Check out this clip to see just how much fun Grigor had as he earned his second top ten win and moved a step closer to achieving his potential as the leader of the current next generation.
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