What a late career renaissance Rajeev Ram is having. The Indiana native had never reached the final at an ATP hard court event, but this week changed that statistic as he beat fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov for the second time in their career head-to-head 6-4, 6-3.
Ram set the tone for the match by breaking Dimitrov in the Bulgarian’s first service game and managed to stay ahead of the strangely subdued third seed for the rest of the set. The break for Ram was no coincidence, as Dimitrov continued to struggle. Ram had further break points to open up a double break lead but Dimitrov fought to stay in touch. That was rendered academic though, as the American cruised through the rest of the first set, wrapping it up without facing a single break point.
Windy conditions had played a part in many matches this week, and today was no different. The second set continued in a similar vein. Dimitrov did hold his first service game, but Ram would break early and again cruise through the set, as Dimitrov cut an increasingly frustrated figure. Ram put extra gloss on the result by securing the double break in the final game of the match, winning when a Dimitrov forehand found the net.
Ram will now contest his first ever ATP hard-court final. He is 2-0 in ATP finals to date, though both his previous efforts came on grass at the Newport Hall of Fame Championships. His opponent will be Sam Querrey, who defeated Ram at his previous career best at a ATP hard-court tournament at the Farmer’s Classic in Los Angeles in 2012, or Juan Martin Del Potro, the former US Open Champion playing his first ATP event in nearly a year following wrist surgery.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgWRBlA5ATs
The defeat for Dimitrov will continue to raise questions about the former Grand Slam semi-finalist’s character. Dimitrov has had the burden of expectation, but his game seems to have dropped since his Wimbledon run in 2014. His run to the semi-finals here represented an opportunity to end the hoodoo of no titles since 2014, as most other seeds had already been beaten, but the chance to win in Delray Beach has no passed him by at least this year.
