Grigor Dimitrov overcame the second round of the "Masters 1000" tennis tournament on red courts in the Spanish capital Madrid, after defeating Chilean Nicolas Hari 6:3, 6:4. The leading Bulgarian racket repelled all five of his opponent's attempts to break through and won in an hour and 39 minutes, BTA reported.
By qualifying for the third round, Dimitrov guaranteed himself 52,925 euros from the total prize fund of 8 million. He also secured 50 points for the world rankings, in which he was ranked 16th on Monday.
Dimitrov recorded an early break and defended it for 3:0, which made it easier for him until the end. He made his first game at zero for 5:2 and although he subsequently wasted a set point, Dimitrov closed the part of his own serve at 6:3. The leading Bulgarian racket recorded another break in the first game of the second set and repeated his perfect series on his own serve for the final 6:3, 6:4 in 99 minutes of play.
Dimitrov won 74% (23/31) of the first serve rallies and recorded 12 winning shots against Hari's 24. However, the Chilean also made 37 unforced errors, while the Bulgarian had 12 in this component of the game as well.
"I am very happy that I won in two sets. I tried to be as creative as possible at the start, but it is very difficult here. I avoided risky shots. "I found the rhythm I needed and that helped me with my serves," Dimitrov said in a courtside interview.
In the next round, Dimitrov will play 24-year-old Jacob Fearnley, whom he has not faced so far in his career. The Briton has won five of his ten matches this year, the last of which came in the second round in Madrid with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over world number 20 and 19th seed Tomasz Mahach.