Grigor Dimitrov advanced to the fourth round at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia for the first time since 2020 on Sunday when he overcame French qualifier Terence Atmane 7-6(3), 6-3.
The eighth-seeded Bulgarian was made to work hard in the hot conditions in Rome, where he edged Atmane in a tight first set. He then played with more freedom in the second set to seal victory after one hour and 44 minutes in the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head clash.
“For the past five days I have been playing lefties, so it will be nice to get a righty, but it is what it is,” said Dimitrov, who beat lefty Yoshihito Nishioka in his opening match. “It was a very difficult match. Probably one of the most difficult matches this year. The conditions were so difficult. I rolled my ankle on one side, there was not much clay left.
“You have to adapt and today that is what I did. I played an OK game and that was enough but at the same time I am not happy with where my game is at. But I keep winning matches like this and that is what counts.”
Dimitrov, who struck 19 winners and committed 18 unforced errors, has reached the fourth round in Rome three times, with his best result in the Italian capital a semi-final run in 2014. The 32-year-old is 24-7 on the season and is currently ninth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin. Dimitrov won the Nitto ATP Finals crown in his only previous appearance in 2017.
Dimitrov will keep his focus on Rome for now and will next meet Taylor Fritz.
Fritz continued his impressive clay-court season with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Sebastian Korda. The 26-year-old is 9-3 on the surface in 2024, having reached the final in Munich last month and the semis in Madrid.
The World No. 13 won 90 per cent (27/30) of his first-serve points against Korda, according to Infosys ATP Stats, while he hit 16 winners to improve to 2-0 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
CLAYOR FRITZ 🧱❤️🔥@Taylor_Fritz97 dominates compatriot Korda 6-3 6-4 to set up a Round of 16 meeting with Dimitrov in Rome! @InteBNLdItalia | #IBI24 pic.twitter.com/A4uWcUiT6Y
— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 12, 2024
Nuno Borges advanced to the fourth round at an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time, moving past Italian qualifier Francesco Passaro 4-6, 7-6(8), 7-6(4). The 27-year-old saved one match point to become just the third Portuguese man to reach the last 16 at a Masters 1000 event. He will next play Alexander Zverev.
The German moved past Italian Luciano Darderi 7-6(3), 6-2 in one hour and 49 minutes. The third seed Zverev, who won the title in Rome aged 20 in 2018, is seeking his first trophy of the year.
Brazilian qualifier Thiago Monteiro also continued his impressive run in Rome, where he beat Miomir Kecmanovic 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(6). The 29-year-old, up 22 spots to No. 84 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, is the first Brazilian to reach the fourth round at an ATP Masters 1000 event since Thomaz Bellucci in Rome in 2016. Monteiro meets Zhang Zhizhen in the fourth round after the Chinese star beat Ben Shelton 6-2, 6-4.
Zhang, No. 51 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, is making his debut in Rome. The 27-year-old's best Masters 1000 result came in Madrid last year when he reached the quarter-finals.
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