Dimitrov Delivers, Doubles To Decide Tie

Grigor Dimitrov has delivered in a big way for his country in the early moments of Saturday morning, forcing a deciding doubles match to determine the winner between his Team Bulgaria and Team Great Britain on the first day of the inaugural ATP Cup.

Dimitrov beat Daniel Evans 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 in an entertaining all-court affair that ended at 12:10am local time in Sydney. Bulgaria’s No. 1 singles player and captain could now elect to return to Ken Rosewall Arena for the doubles match.

The eight-time ATP Tour titlist entered his match with Evans with a 2-1 FedEx ATP Head2Head series lead against the Brit, whom he defeated in straight sets in Chengdu last September. But in the early going, the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champion struggled to find a rhythm against the slicing and dicing off Evans’ racquet.

However, Dimitrov never dipped his head in his first match of the season, blasting away on the backhand side, creating a highlight reel of one-handed lasers. And after two hours and 16 minutes, Dimitrov earned the victory when Evans mishit a volley.

In the tie’s No. 2 singles match, Cameron Norrie beat Dimitar Kuzmanov 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to give Team Great Britain a 1-0 lead.

Norrie first played Kuzmanov at a Futures event in 2014, losing just two games. The lefty didn’t have it anywhere near as easy Friday evening in Sydney, but he got the job done nonetheless.

“It was a tough match. It’s the first match of the year. So, yeah, I came out playing great. It was a real physical first set, and then literally one little lapse in concentration, and then I was down a break and he actually played solid. I didn’t really have any chances in the second,” Norrie said. “Obviously there were a couple doubts in the second, but no, I was actually real happy with the way I competed and the way I carried myself.”

The difference in the match was Norrie’s success with his swinging lefty serve, helping him win 83 per cent of his first-serve points en route to a two-hour victory. He broke serve six times, including on four occasions in the third set.

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Interestingly Norrie won his lowest rate of first-serve points in the final set (69%), but he improved his return pressure, winning 74 per cent of his return points in the decider.

The 24-year-old Norrie enjoyed the best season of his young career in 2019, breaking into the Top 50 of the FedEx ATP Rankings in March before reaching a career-high No. 41 in May. And with his triumph against Kuzmanov, the Brit appears poised for a fast start once again.