Nearly one year to the day when he sustained a torn pectoral muscle against World No. 1 Jannik Sinner on Centre Court, Grigor Dimitrov pulled off a huge upset, upending No. 15 seed Jakub Mensik 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 at Wimbledon in London on Thursday.
Dimitrov, ranked No. 146 in the world, was emotional in his post-match TV interview, pausing a few times to collect himself after advancing to the third round.
“I honestly don’t have much to say other than I’m so happy to be back and play tennis in front of you guys,” the 35-year-old Bulgarian said, gesturing to the cheering crowd after the three-hour, 13-minute match. “For me, I’m very emotional, overwhelmed a little bit at the moment.”
Last July 7, Dimitrov was leading Sinner by two sets when the injury occurred, forcing Dimitrov to retire and denying him a chance at one of the biggest victories of his career. Six days later, he watched as his friend and Monte Carlo neighbor Sinner hoisted the trophy.
On Thursday, Dimitrov saved all seven break points en route to winning the first set, then bounced back after Mensik pulled even in the second set to win 21 of 25 points on his first serve to take a 2-1 lead. In the fourth set, the former World No. 3 induced 10 unforced errors from his Czech Republic foe, breaking him twice to clinch the hard-fought victory.
“A great match today, all I wanted to do was come out and fight,” Dimitrov said after saving 13 of 15 break points and surviving 31 aces from Mensik. “That was my goal. I didn’t think about winning or losing. … You guys (the fans) helped me a lot. The atmosphere was spectacular as usual.”
Up next for Dimitrov is unseeded Italian Matteo Berrettini, who took down No. 20 seed Arthur Fils of France 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.
“If nothing else, it’ll be a pretty match,” Dimitrov said with a laugh. “I’m looking forward to it.”
The remainder of the ranked field advanced to the third round, including No. 2 Alexander Zverev, who cruised through two sets before putting away unseeded Frenchman Valentin Royer 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (3).
“For two and a half sets I played an almost perfect match,” Zverev said in his on-court interview. “Then I lost a bit of focus and he used it very well. He made it very interesting in the end, but definitely happy to be through in straight sets and not have to play another set, even though I love to play here at Wimbledon! It’s nice to win easier at the beginning of the week.”
No. 5 Alex de Minaur of Australia, No. 6 Taylor Fritz, No. 10 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan, No. 13 Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic and No. 19 Karen Khachanov of Russia all won in straight sets, while No. 9 Flavio Cobolli of Italy and No. 17 Frances Tiafoe prevailed in four sets.
No. 23 Rafael Jodar of Spain prevailed in five sets while No. 28 Brandon Nakashima was eliminated in five sets.
–Field Level Media
