By Alberto Amalfi | Wednesday, April 26, 2018
Grigor Dimitrov saved two match points to subdue Malek Jaziri and Rafael Nada extended his winning streak to 40 straight sets on clay advancing to the Barcelona quarterfinals.
Photo credit: Barcelona Open BancSabadell Facebook
Defiance and tie break toughness ignited Grigor Dimitrov's Barcelona comeback.
The second-seeded Dimitrov denied two match points rallying for a 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (8) victory over Malek Jaziri to reach the Barcelona quarterfinals.
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It is the second straight clay-court quarterfinal for Dimitrov, who bowed to Rafael Nadal in the Monte-Carlo semifinals on Saturday.
Serving at 5-6, 30-40, Dimitrov drilled a forehand winner to save the first match point today.
Fortune favored the Nitto ATP Finals champion as a Dimitrov drive crashed into the tape and crawled over forcing the final-set tie break.
Jaziri, who scored his first career Top 10 win against Dimitrov at Dubai in February, made an initial stand in the tie break before his forehand failed him.
Successive forehand errors from the Tunisian gave Dimitrov match points at 6-4, but the Bulgarian returned the favor with two forehand misses of his own.
A Jaziri forehand down the line gave him match point number two, but the world No. 88 missed another forehand down the line.
A fine angled forehand volley from Dimitrov gave him a fourth match point at 9-8 and when Jaziri netted a final forehand, the world No. 5 was through in two hours, 50 minutes.
Though he played stretches of tight tennis, Dimitrov remains a tie break titan raising his record to 8-2 in 2018 tie breaks.
Next up for Dimitrov is another match-point survivor, Pablo Carreno Busta.
Carreno Busta fought off three match points serving at 5-6 in the final set to edge 11th-seeded Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (6), in a pulsating two hour, seven-minute triumph.
The fifth-seeded Spaniard saved the first match point at 30-40 then staved off two more match points serving Ad-Out. Carreno Busta closed on his fifth match point to reach his first Barcelona quarterfinal.
Dimitrov has won three of five meetings with Carreno Busta, but the 11th-ranked Spaniard has prevailed in two of three clay-court encounters, including a straight-sets Roland Garros win last spring.
Continuing his quest for an 11th Barcelona crown, Rafael Nadal rolled past Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-1, 6-3, extending his Open Era record streak to 40 straight sets won on clay.
Nadal converted five of seven break points in a 78-minute victory.
Fresh off his run to his 11th Monte-Carlo championship, Nadal raised his Barcelona record to 55-3.
The world No. 1 will play 140th-ranked qualifier Martin Klizan for a semifinal spot.
In an all-lefty battle, Klizan crushed 12th-seeded Feliciano Lopez, 6-1, 6-4, a day after stunning former No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
Two-time Roland Garros semifinalist Dominic Thiem stopped Slovakian lucky loser Jozef Kovalik, 7-6 (5), 6-2, in one hour, 44 minutes.
The third-seeded Austrian raised his clay-court record to 12-2 on the season.
It was Thiem's 21st win of the season, equaling Juan Martin del Potro for the ATP Tour lead.
Thiem takes on Greek standout Stefanos Tsitsipas in a battle of dynamic one-handed backhands. Tsitsipas topped 10th-seeded Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas, 6-4, 7-5.
This will be the third meeting between Thiem and Tsitsipas this season and both prior matches have been battles, including Thiem's 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 triumph at Indian Wells last month.