Grigor Dimitrov maintained his solid Grand Slam form for 2023 by closing out his rain-delayed third-round match with 10th seed Frances Tiafoe at Wimbledon Sunday.
The World No. 24, who reached the semi-finals at the grass-court major in 2014, wrapped a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 triumph against the 10th-seeded Tiafoe. He outhit the American by 33 winners to 14, did not face a break point and converted five from nine of his own en route to an impressive 99-minute win.
“He’s such a dangerous player, I knew I had to be very focused,” said Dimitrov, who had led Tiafoe 6-2, 6-3, 1-2 overnight in London. “He’s a player that has a lot of flare around the court. Great serve, great return, so I was just looking after my game, to be honest. The past weeks have been amazing weeks for me, out here in England. I’m just enjoying every single day.”
Cruising around 🚢@GrigorDimitrov defeats Tiafoe in straight sets to advance in #Wimbledon @Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/c2QnbcgJHA
— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 9, 2023
Dimitrov has enjoyed consistent results at the majors this year, having also reached the third round of the Australian Open and the fourth round of Roland Garros. However, the Bulgarian is still looking to snap a near-six-year title drought dating back to his triumph at the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals, a result which saw him finish the year at No. 3 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.
The 32-year-old arrived at The All England Club high on confidence. In his most recent three outings he reached the quarter-finals at Queen’s, the fourth round at Roland Garros and the final in Geneva, where he took out Top 10 American Taylor Fritz in the semis. His next challenge at Wimbledon will be a maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash against sixth seed Holger Rune.
“For me, I’m not looking at any [external factors] right now,” said Dimitrov. “I’m just focusing on my side of the net and looking after my game. I really enjoy coming out here and am really enjoying playing at the moment a lot. I think the older I get, the more I enjoy it, which is interesting.
“It’s going to be one of those matches,” added the Bulgarian, when asked about facing Rune for the first time. “I have to take it like any other match. Of course he is young, talented and a very dangerous player, but so am I. Minus the young part!”