Stefanos Tsitsipas and Grigor Dimitrov met in the round-robin stage of the United Cup in Perth. Two rivals pushed each other to the limits at RAC Arena, and Tsitsipas prevailed 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 after two hours and nine minutes.
They stayed neck and neck in the decider after fending off five break points, and Stefanos grabbed the tie break 7-4 to secure his first victory of the new season. The Greek claimed only two points more than his rival, defending eight out of nine break points and emerging at the top for his milestone 250th ATP win at 24.
Dimitrov followed the rival’s pace and served well in sets one and three, only to fall in the tie break and miss a top-10 triumph. Grigor kicked off the action with a forehand winner, and Stefanos responded with a volley winner at the net in game two for 1-1.
Dimitrov fended off a break chance in the third game with a service winner and held for 2-1. Tsitsipas fired an ace in game four for a hold at love and locked the result at 3-3 with another booming serve.
Stefanos Tsitsipas prevailed over Grigor Dimitrov in Perth.
The Bulgarian secured the seventh game at love with an unreturned serve and repeated that two games later for 5-4.
Suddenly, Dimitrov earned three set points on the return in game ten and squandered them for deuce. Grigor stayed focused and forced the rival’s mistake on the fourth to wrap up the set 6-4 in 41 minutes. Tsitsipas raised his level in the second set, dropping five points behind the initial shot and fending off both break points.
The Greek forced the rival’s mistake in the third game to move in front and served well in the next one to open a 3-1 gap. Tsitsipas returned well in the fifth game and delivered the second straight break of serve that sent him 4-1 ahead.
Stefanos saved two break points in the sixth game and held at love with a service winner at 5-2 to close the set and force a decider. Both players experienced troubles at the start of the final set, and the returners failed to take advantage of that.
In one of the crucial moments, Dimitrov created two break points in the eighth game. Tsitsipas stayed calm and denied them with service winners. He fired another to bring the game home and lock the result at 4-4. There were no more return chances in the next four games, and a tie break was to decide the winner.
Tsitsipas forged a 3-0 lead with an ace down the T line and moved 4-2 up with a booming serve. Dimitrov reduced the deficit to 5-4 before Tsitsipas earned two match points with a forehand winner. The Greek seized the first with an ace that sent him over the top.
