Dimitrov in survivor mode in Rome!
Grigor Dimitrov has just pulled back to within a set of Taylor Fritz (2-6, 7-6 after almost 2h30 of play) after a crazy tiebreak. After a first set in which the Bulgarian got off to too poor a start to expect anything, it was at the end of a crazy tug-of-war that the world number 10 snatched a final set. Saving a match point, the 30-year-old has completely recovered and could well take advantage of this to clinch his place in the quarter-finals.
Having played a very good match, Fritz has little to reproach himself for. Excellent on serve (9 aces), strong on important points (11 break points saved out of 11) and solid from the baseline (22 winners, 8 unforced errors), the American delivered one of his best matches on clay. Dimitrov, for his part, showed all the progress he had made over the past year. Despite the frustration, he never gave up, staying in his game, and his time finally came. A little less sharp on serve than the American (7 double faults) and committing a fair number of errors (22 unforced errors), it was by remaining very aggressive (34 winners) that he finally snatched a final set.
It remains to be seen which of these excellent players will come out on top to reach the quarter-finals in Italy.
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