Fifteenth seed Grigor Dimitrov is a man in form, but the Bulgarian had to work through a tough match with South Korea’s Hyeon Chung, eventually winning 16 64 64 64.
The Brisbane winner played a horrible first set, where he played fourteen unforced errors compared to just three errors, aiding the South Korean in breaking three times from seven chances.
Dimitrov managed to turn the statistic around in the second set, with a positive winners-to-errors ratio. Chung still kept the set close though, facing just two break points in the set. However, Dimitrov was far more secure himself, offering the younger man none of the opportunities to break that had been so plentiful in the first set.
A more error-strewn third set from both players saw Dimitrov keep his error count lower than Chung’s resulting two breaks of serve for seed, versus one for the underdog. Dimitrov had originally been down a break in this set, but recovered well to eventually win the set. Things finally looked like they were falling into place for the fifteenth seed after this set.
Dimitrov broke early in the third, and moved to within two games of closing out the match. A minor hiccup then followed as Chung fought back to level at four-all. Dimitrov then immediately retrieved his advantage however, and proceeded to serve for the match, closing out to thirty to ensure a good win from a match that
Dimitrov’s win ensures that his mini-section goes to seeding in the Round of 32, as he will face the eighteenth seed Richard Gasquet of France, in a match that will feature two players with flowing single-handed backhands.
In other matches, two other seeds recorded rather easier wins than Dimitrov. Gilles Simon took ended Rogerio Dutra Silva’s hopes in Melbourne with a 64 61 61 win. Robert Bautista-Agut also enjoyed easy progress, defeating Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka 62 63 63. Simon could next face third seed Milos Raonic, whilst Bautista Agut awaits either David Ferrer or Ernesto Escobedo.
