Dimitrov Breezes Into Round Of 16 At 2 A.M.

Grigor Dimitrov was eager to avoid a late-night marathon at the Australian Open on Saturday, dispatching 18th seed Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in two hours and two minutes to advance to the fourth round.

After Rafael Nadal’s five-set victory over Alexander Zverev extended the day session on Rod Laver Arena, Dimitrov and Gasquet didn’t get underway until 11:58 p.m. local time in Melbourne. The seventh battle between two of the more majestic one-handed backhands on tour would go the way of the Bulgarian in convincing fashion. He fired 48 winners, including 11 aces, while turning aside six of seven break points faced. He continued his impressive start to the season, remaining undefeated (8-0) after lifting his fifth ATP World Tour trophy in Brisbane two weeks ago.

The lead changed hands early in the first set, but a break to love for 5-3 gave Dimitrov the decisive advantage. He would escape a 0/40 hole in the next game and eventually closed out the opener on his fourth set point. Dimitrov was off to the races from there, breaking immediately to open the second set and once again in the seventh game to take a commanding two-set lead.

A rifled backhand winner and Gasquet unforced error would hand the 15th seed the lead in the opening game of the third set and he did not look back, securing the victory at exactly 2:00 a.m. on his second match point. The record for latest finish at Melbourne Park is 4:33 a.m., set by Lleyton Hewitt and Marcos Baghdatis in a 2008 third-round thriller.

“Lately I’ve been struggling with my sleeping and going to bed late, so this is great,” Dimitrov joked. “It’s my first win on this court so I’m embracing this moment. Thanks to all the fans who stayed here.

“A match like that, it helps me. It helps me to have more confidence, to feel better on the court, more secure in my shots. Just a lot of positives. I take a lot of positives out of that match. The first couple of matches were so-so in my opinion. To be able to come out tonight and step up against a player like Richard, it means a lot to me and gives me good credit. At the same time I just need to focus now, just need to keep the same line, just control what I can.”

It was Dimitrov’s second straight victory over Gasquet, having most recently prevailed at the Shanghai Rolex Masters in October. The Frenchman had previously won their first five FedEx ATP Head2Head encounters from 2011-15.

Dimitrov will feature in the Round of 16 at the Australian Open for the third time in four years. His best finish came in 2014, when he upset Milos Raonic en route to the quarter-finals (l. to Nadal). He will look to match that result with a win over wild card Denis Istomin on Monday. It will be just their second encounter.

Istomin continued his dream run in Melbourne by reaching the second week here for the first time in 11 attempts. Two days after his monumental five-set win over second seed and two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic, the wild card prevailed 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 over Pablo Carreno Busta.

“It was mentally tough because after beating Novak I didn’t want to lose three sets in a row, and then everybody saying that I’m was too tired,” Istomin said. “I recovered well. I was ready for the match. I think I played good, as well. The conditions were different. The centre court is much slower than that court. So my return wasn’t working like with Novak. Carreno Busta is a big server. But in the end I’m happy to win.”

Istomin fired 16 aces and 51 winners throughout the match, but was most impressive with his stamina. He still looked fresh deep in the fifth set while the Spaniard appeared tired from the hours of long baseline rallies. Istomin raced through the final four games of the match, converting his second match point on a backhand error from Carreno Busta.

The 30 year old from Uzbekistan will aim to reach his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final against Dimitrov.

“With Grigor, I think I beat him when he was like 17 in a Challenger,” Istomin added. “It was a tough match. But I lost to him in Shanghai [in 2014]. He’s been in the Top 10 so I will try to play like I played with Novak and today, and we will see.”