One of the more appealing fourth round French Open matches was the only battle of two top 10 players. On Sunday, the tenth seed, and three-time grand slam semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria beat the eighth seed and 2021 Wimbledon semifinalist Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, 7-6, 6-4, 7-6. Dimitrov beat Hurkacz 7-5 in the first set tie break and 7-3 in the third set tiebreak. As a result, Dimitrov has reached the quarterfinals of Roland Garros for the first time in his career. He previously made the fourth round of the 2020 and 2023 French Opens but lost. Dimitrov’s three career semifinal berths have been at Wimbledon in 2014, the Australian Open in 2017, and the United States Open in 2019.
Inside look at Dimitrov’s win
Dimitrov won 67% of the points on his second serve. Meanwhile, Hurkacz only won 50% of the points on his second serve. Dimitrov also made less mistakes as he committed only 28 unforced errors compared to 43 for Hurkacz. The second set was also key as Dimitrov broke Hurkacz, and was not broken himself to take control.
Dimitrov has dominated Hurkacz
Six times Dimitrov has beaten Hurkacz in his career. In addition to the 2024 French Open, Dimitrov won 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 in the quarterfinals of Indian Wells in 2021, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 in the quarterfinals of Monte Carlo in 2022, 7-6, 7-6 in the second round of Rotterdam in 2023, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Paris Indoor in 2023, and 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 in the fourth round of Miami in 2024.
Who does Dimitrov have next?
Dimitrov next plays world number two and reigning Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner of Italy in the quarterfinals. Sinner has the opportunity of being the world number one by Monday. Sinner is 3-1 all-time versus Dimitrov. Dimitrov’s lone win was their only prior meeting on clay. It was in the third round of the 2020 Italian Open, a match Dimitrov won in three sets, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. At the time, Dimitrov was the 15th seed, and Sinner qualified via a wildcard.
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