Grigor Dimitrov crashed out of the last 16 of the Masters 1000 tennis tournament in Rome after losing to Taylor Fritz 2-6, 7-6 (11), 1-6 in nearly two hours and 45 minutes.
The match started better for the 11th-ranked American, who made two breaks, although Grigor had as many as seven break points, but did not materialize any of them. The second set turned into a real battle of two gladiators that lasted an hour and 23 minutes. Our best tennis player had ten set points, including three in a row at 6-3. Fritz, in turn, had a match point at 8-7 points, which he did not take advantage of and was eventually penalized for 11-13 in favor of the Bulgarian. However, the second set seemed to drain all the remaining strength of Dimitrov, who took only one game in the third decisive set.
Grigor made ten winners more than his opponent, but also 22 unforced errors more than the American. Our tennis player made only one ace and as many as 11 double faults.
In contention for a place in the semi-finals, Fritz will play the winner of the match between third seed Alexander Zverev and Portugal's Nuno Borges. /BGNES
