Grigor Dimitrov nearly lost the plot but caught his footing in time to win on Wednesday in Acapulco


Grigor Dimitrov won one the hard way on Wednesday night in Acapulco.

The 2014 Acapulco champion battled from a set down and saved a pair of match point at 4-5 in the third set before pushing past Adrian Mannarino in a dominant tiebreaker to book a 6-7(8) 6-2 7-6(2) victory and a spot in the quarterfinals alongside Stan Wawrinka.

Tennis Express

Dimitrov was in full command of the third set, leading 4-1, when he suddenly went off the boil and dropped four consecutive games. Moments later he found himself double match point down and seemingly out against the 31-year-old World No.41.

But Dimitrov fired an ace in the first match point and saved the second when Mannarino’s backhand sailed long.

He had to struggle while serving at 5-6 but battled through to force the tiebreaker and then dominated from there.

The Bulgarian even broke out a two-handed backhand to create a sensational winner for 4-0 in the breaker.


It wasn’t the prettiest win for the World No.22 but it could go a long way for his confidence.

Confidence won’t be great for second-seeded Alexander Zverev after he fell to American Tommy Paul on Wednesday. The German was once again plagued by double-faults as he fell to the World No.66 6-3 6-4 on Wednesday.

Paul, playing at a career-high ranking, is projected to make his Top 60 debut next week and could climb higher if he continues winning. The victory marks his first Top 10 win.

Americans were strong in Acapulco, as John Isner and Taylor Fritz also reached the quarterfinals. Isner defeated compatriot Marcos Giron in straights while Fritz toppled Ugo Humbert, who was ailing with a shoulder injury, 6-4 6-1.

Earlier in the day, Kyle Edmund stopped Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4 6-4 and Soonwoo Kwon of South Korea reached his fourth consecutive quarterfinal with a straight-sets win over Dusan Lajovic.

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