Fernando Verdasco rolled back the clock on Friday at Roland Garros, when he saved four set points in the first set en route to victory in the 350th clay-court match of his career (218-132).
Verdasco, the No. 30 seed from Spain, booked his place in the fourth round for the seventh time, equalling his best performance at the Grand Slam championship, with a 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-4 victory over fourth-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in two hours and 22 minutes.
Verdasco will now prepare to face 2016 champion and No. 20 seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia or Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, the No. 13 seed.
Verdasco saved two set points when serving at 5-6, then recovered from a 1/3 deficit in the tie-break to clinch the 63-minute opener and put Dimitrov on the back foot. Verdasco saved two break points in the third game of the second set. Then from 2-2, he won 16 of the next 20 points for a two-sets lead.
In a run of seven straight games to a 3-0 lead in the third set, Verdasco capitalised on poor serving from Dimitrov, the reigning Nitto ATP Finals champions, who rallied with two breaks, but once again made an early exit on his eighth appearance in south-west Paris.
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