Dimitrov starts with win in Cincinnati

Originally published on 16/08/17 00:00

The Bulgarian suffered a disappointing loss to Robin Haase at the Rogers Cup in Montreal last week but he was clinical in his 90-minute triumph over the veteran Spaniard.

Dimitrov’s reward is a mouth-watering last 16 clash with Juan Martin del Potro. The 2009 US Open winner dismissed American, Mitchell Krueger, 6-4 6-4 and he will put his unbeaten record against the Bulgarian on the line tomorrow.

"I think early on, he was serving very well," said Dimitrov. "I think it was just important for me to stay in the game and just put as many returns in as I could in order to get in the rally because as soon as that was happening, I felt I had a pretty good chance of winning every point.”

Elsewhere on the grounds, David Ferrer made it 713 career wins as he outlasted Janko Tipsarevic 6-4 6-7(5) 6-1. The pair have had some epic battles throughout the years – especially at the US Open – but the Spaniard pulled away in the third set on this occasion,.

Nick Kyrgios maintained his interest in the competition with a 6-3 7-6(6) win over Alexandr Dolgopolov, Pablo Carreno Busta enjoyed a straight set victory over Mischa Zverev, Karen Khachanov lost just four games to Thomas Fabbiano and Yuichi Sugita made it through after a 3-6 7-6(5) 6-1 success over Joao Sousa.

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