Many of the world’s best players have tournaments, or surfaces, where they flourish.
Novak Djokovic is almost unbeatable on the Plexicushion of Melbourne Park, while Rafael Nadal is even more dominant on the gritty red clay of Roland Garros. Roger Federer practically owns the Halle tournament, while putting Petra Kvitova on a fast indoor court almost always reaps a win. The same goes for Serena Williams at Miami. For Grigor Dimitrov, it’s grass, and Wimbledon.
The Bulgarian, a semi-finalist at Wimbledon last year and a winner at Queen’s, has endured a lean 2015, failing to advance to a tournament final and bringing an underwhelming 19-12 win-loss record into this year’s Championships. But back on the SW19 lawns this week, the No.11 seed has romped through the draw, his latest success being a 7-6(8), 6-2, 7-6(2) dismissal of Steve Johnson of the United States.
With two straight-sets victories now under his belt, Dimitrov is through to meet No.21 seed Richard Gasquet in the third round. This looming battle, between two dashing one-handed, all-court players with grass-court credibility promises to be one to remember for tennis purists.
Despite trailing the head-to-head 0-4, the Bulgarian feels Friday’s match may be a different story. “I think I (last) played him a while back, like two years ago or something like that? So I'm a different guy since then. I'm a different player. I feel that I'm coming into the match as a favourite to win,” he said.
I had a few ups and downs here and there, but that's the game
“(My form is) getting there. Obviously it's good to go through certain matches in that way, especially in straight sets. With every match I feel that my game is getting better, but I still feel that there are a couple of things I need to sort of tune up.”
Although notable for his flair, Wednesday’s performance on No.2 Court was a workmanlike victory for Dimitrov. There were several times when he was challenged by Johnson’s strength and fight, yet he never looked as if he would wilt – in the tense moments, his silky serve and penetrating power proved decisive. Perhaps the biggest struggle he faced during two hours, 10 minutes on court was in the very first game, when Johnson held two break points before Dimitrov eventually held after a six-minute battle.
The players approached their craft in different ways. While Johnson may not possess the style or imagination of Dimitrov, his brutal strategy of slamming serves and belting anything that came back proved just as effective.
After that opening game, both players held serve comfortably. The set progressed to a tie-break, where there was not a mini-break in sight. Both players earned themselves set points with strong serving, only to lose them when returning. At 8-8, Johnson’s forehand broke down; he missed two shots off this wing to hand Dimitrov the first set.
The two men had combined for 32 winners and just 13 errors, yet Johnson could not sustain such a level in the second set. He dropped serve in the opening game and went down a double-break after a disastrous fifth game in which he sprayed a double-fault and forehand and backhand errors to drop serve to love. Dimitrov later stroked a forcing cross-court backhand in the eighth game to force an error and bring up set point, and pounded an unreturnable serve to close it out.
The third set followed a predictable pattern of service holds. Dimitrov did hold a break point in the ninth game which put him a point from serving from the match, yet this was erased with a saucy drop shot from Johnson. The American then brought up set point in the following game only for Dimitrov to produce a winning serve.
A tie-break followed, and Johnson’s forehand dissolved. He went down a mini-break after an error from this wing and sent a wild forehand return long to nudge Dimitrov ahead 4-2. Another forehand error gave Dimitrov a 6-2 lead and a bundle of set points, yet he needed only one; Johnson then double-faulted.
Dimitrov’s reaction was telling; it was an intense fist pump in the direction of his entourage and a sunny wave to the cheering crowd. “I had a few ups and downs here and there, but that's in the game. I felt that I have learned a lot from last year, because everything was pretty much rolling and to my favour everywhere. I played in every tournament that I had. I always had good results, and that was great,” he reflected.
“I felt that this year I had quite a few good results, but in the same time I had quite a few bad ones. But Wimbledon is a very special tournament, and for me it's one of the best events. To be able to come back and sort of perform the same way, I think it's great.”
