Grigor Dimitrov was knocked out from the Round of 16 at the ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai
Grigor Dimitrov was knocked out from the Round of 16 at the ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai after losing to Jakub Mensik (Czech Republic) by 1-2 (3:6, 6:3, 4:6). The match lasted 2:03 hours and offered a wonderful tennis from both.
Thus, the Bulgarian failed to qualify for the third time in his career among the top eight in the competition, but still took 100 points in the “Race to the ATP Finals” ranking, where he also took tenth place. This is the second loss for Grigor Dimitrov against the world’s number 65 – Jakub Mensik, after he was outplayed again in the first match between them – at the Masters in Madrid earlier this year with 1-2 (2:6, 7:6 (4), 3:6).
The match got off to a great start for the 19-year-old Jakub Mensik, who won the first three games to lead by 3:0. With his solid serve, he was able to maintain his lead without any problems and win the first part in just 31 minutes.
The 33-year-old Grigor Dimitrov, who is 9th-seeded, improved his play in the second set. The Bulgarian player was the one who this time led the game 3:0, and although he had to save twice his serve with three breakpoints, he managed to equalize the result in sets.
At the beginning of the third set, Grigor Dimitrov missed a break point at 1:1, and in the next game it was Jakub Mensik who broke. This gave additional self-confidence to the young Czech tennis player, who continued to serve very solidly until 5:3 game in his favor. Then Grigor Dimitrov reached two new breakpoints and realized the first one to reduce to 4:5. However, instead of equalizing the score, the Bulgarian made another mistake and Jakub Mensik broke right after that, which this time put an end to the match.
Jakub Mensik finished the match with a total of 10 aces and 27 winners. Grigor Dimitrov made more winners than his opponent – 30, but also committed more unforced errors – 35-33.
In the quarterfinals, Jakub Mensik will face the four-time Shanghai champion Novak Djokovic, who defeated Roman Safiullin (Russia) by 2-0 (6:3, 6:2). The next tournament on Grigor Dimitrov’s schedule is the ATP 250 event in Stockholm starting on Monday. At the moment, the Bulgarian is the second highest ranked participant after Casper Ruud.