World No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov kept his hopes of defending his Brisbane International presented by Suncorp title alive in dramatic fashion after a 4-6, 7-6(8), 6-3 win over John Millman on Thursday night.
Making his sixth consecutive main draw appearance in Brisbane, Dimitrov reached the last eight for a fifth time after a two-hour and 38-minute battle with the World No. 128.
After exchanging early breaks in the first set, Millman’s continued pressure on the Dimitrov serve paid off at the tail-end of the opener. The 28-year-old managed to win almost half of all points (23/48) on the Bulgarian’s serve and in the 10th game, a second breakthrough came for Millman who took the set 6-4.
A dramatic second set followed with both men breaking serve before reaching a tie-break and it was there that Millman manufactured two match points for the biggest win of his career. But the four-time 2017 titlist on the ATP World Tour was not to be denied, saving the first in an epic rally at the net and a second with an aggressive forehand into the corner. Dimitrov would later convert his second set point to win the tie-break 7-6(8) and level the match.
From that point, the 26-year-old motored through the decider with a break in the fourth game and a near-perfect performance on points behind his first serve (17/18). Dimitrov will next meet Kyle Edmund who defeated #NextGenATP champion Hyeon Chung 7-6(3), 5-7 6-4 earlier in the day.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour http://ift.tt/2E5cqPy
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