Bulgaria’s Dimitrov exits French Open

Grigor Dimitrov’s underwhelming clay-court season ended with a defeat in the French Open third round, as the Bulgarian fell in straight sets (5-7, 3-6, 4-6) to Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta.

Dimitrov made a bright start, taking a 4-0 lead in the first set, but a double fault on break-point when serving to go up 5-1 appeared to shatter his confidence and he never recovered from the error, with his opponent taking advantage at key points to wrap up the match in just two hours and 18 minutes.

The Bulgarian failed to convert on any of his four break-points in the second set, while Carreno Busta needed only two chances to break Dimitrov’s service. In the third frame, Dimitrov appeared unable to put much resistance and the Spaniard converted his only break point to take the set and match.

Dimitrov’s ends the clay season with a 4-5 record, with only one of those losses coming against a higher-ranked opponent, Dominic Thiem in Madrid. Despite his third-round loss at Roland Garros, the Bulgarian looks likely to go up a spot to 12th in the world after the French Open ends, given the early exits of other players around him in the ATP rankings.

The ATP Tour switches to grass courts, a surface better suited to Dimitrov’s game, from next week. The Bulgarian will next play in the MercedesCup in Germany in mid-June, followed by the Aegon Championships in London, as he prepares for Wimbledon.

(Photo: Passion Leica/flickr.com)

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