Grigor Dimitrov suffered a dramatic loss. It happened in the third round of the tournament on red courts in Monte Carlo. He dropped out of the Masters after an extremely unpleasant loss in the match against world #7 Holger Rune. The result is 6:7(9), 6:3, 6:7(2). The meeting lasted over 3 and a half hours! Recall that the two were supposed to finish their second round matches earlier in the day, postponed due to rain.
Grigor overcame the loss of the very interesting first set by comfortably winning the second. The third was the most even and in it Grisho dropped two match points before losing heavily in the tiebreak. The Dane also took advantage of many dirty tricks he used during the match, including a medical timeout, a long break between the first and second sets, as well as arguments with the referee, with which he deliberately disrupted the opponent’s rhythm.
In the next round, the world No. 7 will play the best player of the year Yannick Siner. Grigor still earned points for the ranks and with the current development of the tournament he climbs to #8. For him, it was his first loss in a three-set match this year and his second in a total of four duels against Holger Rune.
The first set was a real epic, but not only because it lasted an hour and a half, but also because of the many twists and turns and nervous tension between the two players. They got off to a slow start but gradually started to play some great tennis. The first opportunities for a breakthrough opened up for the Bulgarian at 3:2 in his favor after mistakes by the Dane. Unfortunately, however, the world number 7 reflected the opportunities, and the match turned into a real spectacle somewhere.
And as often happens, missed opportunities led to a breakthrough for the other player. Rune made it 4:3,
after having a total of three break points in the game. The great performances from both continued, and Grigor was pushed to the wall at 4:5 and a serve for Rune. Then, like the match with Kecsmanovic, he was able to show his class and get back in the set with a return of the break. Then Rooney began to infuriate the fans in the stands and Grigor, several times asking referee Bernandez to come down the court to check for obvious balls.
It came down to a tiebreak, which was a real spectacle. Grigor made a very unpleasant mistake at 4:4. Rune took the initiative but failed to convert three set points. Then it was Grigor’s turn to drop one for the Dane to triumph 11:9 after his fourth set ball in total.
Then Rune came out for an 8-minute break, and when he was broken for 1:0 in the second set, he also called a physiotherapist to finally piss off his opponent. The subsequent action on the court was strange to say the least. Grigor held his break lead and Rune played almost entirely with short balls, which sometimes brought him success. However, he had no chance to return the break, and instead conceded a second one at the end of the set for 3:6.
At the start of the third set, Grigor missed a great opportunity to break through, failing to land a backhand down the empty forehand. Then Rune also had a chance to lead the score after a breakball, but Grigor reflected it thanks to his serve. Then the tense games followed one after another, but the two managed. The big drama came at 6:5 for Grigor when the Bulgarian made the plays of the match to turn around from 0:40. Then, unfortunately, he failed to realize two match points and the battle went into a final tiebreak. There Rune won decisively with 7:2 points.
