French Open - Men's First Round
26 Grigor Dimitrov d Alejandro Falla - 64 1-0 Ret.
Falla had some tummy trouble.
Grigor seems to be coming into form on the clay.
Remember he took down Djokovic at the Madrid Masters.
And he's on a 3rd round collision course with Nole here at Roland-Garros.
Could be quite interesting.
And Grigor has already matched his best result here - from last year.
He's heading one direction - UP.
Madrid Masters Series 1000 - Men's 2nd Round
Grigor Dimitrov d 1 Novak Djokovic - 76(6) 67(8) 63
Welcome to the big time G! It's been a long time coming.
His #28 ranking will already be getting a nice bump on Monday.
Maybe even a big bump if he keeps going thru the draw.
Post match: It's a great win for me. Good day at the office.
I know it's a big thing, of course. But you got to stay on the ground.
Hopefully you're going to face these guys for years.
You never know how it's going to be next time...
You got to be ready and try to work at it every day and
see it as just another test to do and something exciting to look forward.
ATP Masters Series 1000 Monte-Carlo - Men's Quarterfinal
3 Rafael Nadal d Grigor Dimitrov - 62 26 64
It may not have been pretty but Rafa's kept his quest for a 9th title alive.
Rafa just won his 45th straight match at MC and is now 20-1 for 2013.
But this match was very much one that could have gotten away from him.
Post match: I know that when you have these tough matches,
it is decisive to keep fighting. If you keep fighting, you will lose some ones,
but you will have a chance to win a lot of ones, too.
I gave that fight. Finally he had his chance, and I had my one,
and I converted. That's it. I think I played better the last couple of games.
Obviously I'm trying to find better rhythm all the time.
In my opinion, I did it in the end. It was great.
For his Rafanatics it was great.
ATP Masters Series 1000 Monte-Carlo - Men's Third Round
Grigor Dimitrov d Florian Mayer - 62 64
Baby Fed Grigor finally makes his first quarterfinal at a Masters event.
A loss tomorrow will bump him from #36 to around #25.
I say 'a loss' because he next will play the King of Clay.
About that: I know tomorrow is another point of view,
since clay court you're playing against the greatest of all time.
There's that feeling and anxiety that you want to come out and
do the best you can. I think most of all you have to keep a good composure.
Remember: He's 22 next month - the age Roger kicked off his GOAT-ness.
ATP Masters Series 1000 Miami - Men's 3rd Round
2 Andy Murray d 29 Grigor Dimitrov - 76(3) 63
The Scot is still in the hunt to add a 2nd Miami title ('09) to his resume.
Remember: He was runner-up to Novak last year.
There he is with hot-right-now DJ Calvin Harris. My question is...
Who knew Calvin was so tall?
Or is he doing the Tom Cruise and standing on a box?
ATP 250 Brisbane - Men's Final
1 Andy Murray d Grigor Dimitrov - 76(0) 64
ATP title #25 & 2nd straight at Brisbane - the 6th time he defended a title.
He'll have a week off befor the Aussie Open where he'll be the #3 seed.
Pressure off: It's the 1st time he enters a Slam as an actual Slam winner.
I do feel more relaxed one week out from slam than I have done previously,
that's for sure, so I hope that's a good sign.
***
As for Grigor - he enjoyed his best week on the ATP tour.
This was his first time playing in a final. And he was UP in both sets.
Never fear G, it's in the offing. This year. Trust.
These photo's showed up on Nike's Facebook page yesterday.
I'm sooooo ready for this kid to be a big star already. Just do it. Please.
I mean, I already made a personal category for him ages ago.
Grigor finished the year at a career-high #48.
He has yet to play in an ATP final. I think that will change in 2013.
Hopefully.
ATP Masters Series 1000 Miami - Third Round
Grigor Dimitrov d 7 Tomas Berdych - 63 26 64
This win represents Grigor's first ATP match win over a top 10 player.
And it's his first trip to a Masters 1000 4th round.
His match winning reaction clearly celebrated both.
Many feel that this 20 year-old is one of the 5 or 6 future stars of the game.
I agree.
He entered Miami ranked #101 - he will at least move up into the 80's.
He will next face 9 Janko Tipsarevic who leads their H2H 2-0.
In fact, Grigor has yet to take a set - but that could change this week.
Win or lose - Grigor is on the verge...
Photos: Reuters
Here's a great pre-Aussie Open video of Grigor's tourney digs:
Currently ranked #76 this 20 year-olds future seems pretty bright.
He'll open against Jeremy Chardy at the AO.12 - H2H: 1-0/JC.
He is in Berdych's section of Rafa's quarter. Tough stuff yes...
But his day will surely come.
He was a junior #1 in '08 winning at both Wimbledon and the US Open.
Grigor has yet to win a tour level title but I'm saying it'll happen this year.
Hell, I'll even predict 2 titles this year. And a top 30 finish.
I hate predictions. Time to put the crystal ball away.
Munich ATP 250 - Second Round
Grigor Dimitrov d 4 Marcos Baghdatis - 36 76(6) 62
I thought this new lean/mean Bag Man was suppose to make some noice.
He's played 9 tournaments so far in 2011 and has won 6 matches.
That kind of noice is called a fizz.
But today Marcos did lose to a bonafide 'someone-to-watch' player.
It should only be a matter of time before he'll be a fixture within the elite.
In 2008 Grigor won both the Wimbledon & US Open juniors titles.
Edberg & Federer both won the W title 5 years after winning the juniors...
So, maybe we will see Grigor lift the trophy at Wimby in 2013?
Photo: Matthias Huber
Novak Djokovic Thru to 4th Round at French Open as He Notches 500th ATP Match
French Open - Men's Third Round
1 Novak Djokovic d 26 Grigor Dimitrov - 62 62 63
I think everybody thought this one would be a closer contest.
Remember, Grigor beat Nole just a few weeks ago at Madrid.
In the process Nole became the 40th player to join the 500 club.
Nole certainly is looking unbeatable at this edition of RG.
But his next opponent is Philipp Kohlschreiber - H2H: 2-1/Nole.
The loss? A 3rd round straight set loss here at the French in 2009.
Yea, I'm not seeing a repeat of that on Monday.
Not happening.
Posted at 10:16 AM in Commentary, French Open, Grand Slam Tennis, Grigor Dimitrov, Mens Tennis, Novak Djokovic, Preview, Record, Roland Garros, Scores | Permalink | Comments (0)
| Reblog (0)