Second seed Grigor Dimitrov slumped to a 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 loss to world No. 155 Jerzy Janowicz at the Stuttgart Open on Thursday, with the Pole booking a surprise quarter-final spot.
Janowicz made the most of momentary lapses in concentration by Dimitrov, who followed top seed Roger Federer — beaten by Tommy Haas on Wednesday — out of the Wimbledon warmup event.
“This was a very important match for me. I have to fight for more wins. I am happy to be back where I was two years ago after I was injured, struggling with health,” said Janowicz, 26, who faces Frenchman Benoit Paire in the last eight.
Photo: Reuters
A sensational backhand down the line — the shot of the match — gave Janowicz the mini-break he needed in the first-set tiebreak. Another whipping forehand earned Janowicz, a former world No. 14 who has been plagued by injuries in recent seasons, his first two break points on Dimitrov’s serve.
The Bulgarian then sent one of his forehands long to allow his opponent to serve out the match.
Czech Tomas Berdych, at three the highest seed still in the tournament, also booked a last-eight spot with a 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 win over Australian Bernard Tomic.
He faces Feliciano Lopez of Spain.
AEGON OPEN
Staff writer
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei was beaten in the women’s singles at the Aegon Open in Nottingham, England, on Thursday.
Hsieh — who is based in France after a split with Taiwanese tennis — was beaten 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9/7) by Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic in their second-round encounter.
In the doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Casey Dellacqua of Australia were to play Johanna Konta and Yanina Wickmayer in the quarter-finals, with the match to finish after press time last night.
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