Grigor Dimitrov opened his campaign with a hard-fought 6-4 7-5 win over China’s Zhang Zhizhen at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.
Dimitrov came back from a slow start to clinch the win in 1 hour and 37minutes.
Zhang Zhizhen converted her fourth break point at deuce in the opening game before Dimitrov converted both of the break points he earned in the sixth and the tenth games to win the first set 6-4.
Zhang Zhizhen earned two more break points in the 11thgame but Dimitrov saved them with forehand winners before clinching a decisive break on her second match point. Dimitrov has improved his record to 44-16 this season.
“The conditions from last week to last week are so different. In the end, I just had to somehow find a way, but I have so much experience in moments like that. At the beginning, I was playing alright, but I was not able to hit my spots on the serve very well. In the second set, I almost had too many opportunities, but in the last game I had a little more authority which helped me to step through and put a little more pressure on him”, said Dimitrov.
Dimitrov will take on Tomas Machac, who beat Hungary’s Fabian Maroszan 7-6 (7-5) 6-1.
Both players went on serve en route to the tie-break. Maroszan opened up a 4-0 lead with two mini-breaks at the start of the tie-break, but Machac came back by winning seven consecuve points to clinch the tie-break 7-5. Machac broke twice in the second and fourth games and sealed the win on his first match point.
Brandon Nakashima beat last week’s Stockolm champion Tommy Paul 6-4 6-4. Nakashima earned an early break in the first game of the opening set and held serve to open up a 2-0 lead. Paul saved three break points in a five-deuce sixth game. Paul saved a break point as he was serving to stay in the set. Nakashima served out the first set with a hold at love. Paul saved four break points in a seven-deuce third game of the second set. Nakashima converted his second break point to take a 4-3 lead. The US player saved a break point in the 10th game before sealing the win on his first match point.
