By Kehinde Okeowo
Grigor Dimitrov’s scintillating comeback against US Open reigning champion, Daniil Medvedev, at the Indian Wells Masters, kept the chase for his first title since winning the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals alive.
The Bulgarian rallied back from a set and a double breakdown to produce one of the comebacks of the season on Wednesday at the BNP Paribas Open.
The 23rd seed battled back from 4-6, 1-4 down to move past the Russian 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of Indian Wells Masters for the first time in his career.
The winner in his post-match interview acknowledged his opponent has been torn in his flesh, as he has faced him severally without success.
“He is such a tough player and competitor, over the past year, I have played him a few times and haven’t been able to find a way. But today, I just felt something at 1-4 and I calmed myself down and started to make better decisions and started to control the pace of the game, which I believed helped me. In the end, it was just very solid and smart play.” Dimitris said
The 2nd ranked ATP player, Medvedev was in control initially, but lost his dominance, as he was forced into making errors with his aggressive play of his opponent. The Bulgarian proceeded to win eight straight games thereafter, to advance to the next round.
Medvedev, while assessing the match, attributed his loss, especially in the second set to the slow court, comparing the hard court to a clay surface.
“I don’t remember myself losing three service games, even four service games ever on hard courts.
“That shows how slow this court is and the conditions, more like clay, which I don’t like. To lose four times the service is just unacceptable. That’s why I lost the (second) set.” He said.
The Russian who has won over 50 matches in 2021 described the loss as a minor setback, noting that it was not a grand slam.