Grigor Dimitrov faces Poland’s Janowicz in Cincinnati opener
Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov, seeded seventh in the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati this week, will play world number 65 Jerzy Janowicz of Poland in the second round of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament on August 13.
Dimitrov had a first-round bye as one of the top eight seeds, giving him extra time to recover from a deep run at the Rogers Cup in Toronto last week, when he reached the semi-finals but lost to eventual champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Despite not playing his best in his return to the ATP Tour, after a month-long break that followed his Wimbledon semi-final appearance, Dimitrov grinded out three three-set wins before a straight-sets defeat to Tsonga on August 9.
Dimtirov’s run in Toronto – where he had a vocal support of the crowd that sported numerous Bulgarian flags – was his second semi-final in a row at an ATP Masters 1000 tournament, following the Rome Masters in May.
In his last five tournaments, Dimitrov reached at least the semi-final stage four times – at Wimbledon, in Rome and Toronto, as well as winning the Queens Club title in London – with the only exception being his surprise first-round exit at the French Open.
The recent string of successes has pushed Dimitrov into the ATP Tour top 10 – he is currently ranked eighth in the world – and he is also fifth in the ATP Tour Race to London, the calendar-year standings, which puts him on track to make the end-year ATP World Tour Finals for the first time in his career.
As in Toronto, he has been drawn in the same section with Stan Wawrinka, whom he is seeded to play in the quarterfinal – provided both players manage to navigate potentially tricky ties en route.
Updated: Dimitrov lost to Janowicz in three sets 4-6, 6-3, 3-6. He has no other commitments until the US Open, which begins on August 25.
(Grigor Dimitrov at the 2011 Western & Southern Open. Photo: mirsasha/flickr.com)
