Zverev Battles Through Against Dimitrov

Next Generation player Sascha Zverev scored a character-building 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 win against No. 23 seed Grigor Dimitrov in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Sunday. The 18 year old, the youngest player still in contention at the year’s first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, saved nine of 11 break points faced in the two-hour, 20-minute encounter.

“I tried to stay as calm as I could,” Zverev said. “Grigor played well for an hour or so, from the middle of the second set until the middle of the third. He didn’t give me many chances, but I knew I would get my opportunities. And I used them well.

“Grigor is such a good player. He has so much potential to really do well,” Zverev said. “We will see [this matchup] a lot in the future.”

Zverev made a fast start in claiming the only break of serve in the first set, but Dimitrov saved all five break points faced in the second stanza and bullied the Zverev second serve (9/13 points won) to even the match. In a moment of frustration, the youngster smashed his frame against the court and received a warning from the chair umpire for racquet abuse.

In the third set, Dimitrov appeared to have momentum on his side, breaking in the opening game and racing to a 3-1 lead. But Zverev, who had regained his composure, would not let his first trip to the California desert be cut short. The German used heavy cross-court groundstrokes to neutralize the Bulgarian’s all-court attack and broke through with Dimitrov serving to force a deciding tie-break.

Zverev, No. 58 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, finished with 13 aces in his first win over Dimitrov in two FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings (2014 Basel). He will face Gilles Simon, against whom he scored a gutsy 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(4) win earlier this year in Rotterdam, in the third round.

Simon overcame a convincing first-set loss to defeat Canadian Vasek Pospisil 1-6, 6-0, 6-1. The Frenchman dropped serve twice in the first set, but stormed back to win 12 of the next 13 games to advance. In the second set, Simon only dropped one point when returning the Pospisil serve (12/13).

With the win, Simon improved to 3-1 in the FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Pospisil.