Dimitrov hopes to do one better than last year’s Miami Open final run
03.21.25
Photo by Peter Staples/ATP Tour
By Harvey Fialkov
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Grigor Dimitrov’s teenage opponent was nearly 4 years old when the Bulgarian played his first match in this event when it was held on Key Biscayne in 2007.
Not only was this Federico Cina’s first Masters 1000 series, but the wild-card entrant made his ATP main-draw debut on Wednesday where the 17-year-old Italian notched his first win over Argentine qualifier Francisco Comesana, making him the youngest player to win a hard court ATP Masters 1000 match since 2018.
However, on a cool Friday morning on Butch Buchholz Family Court, a resurgent Dimitrov, seeded 14th, spanked the youngster 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the third round of the Miami Open presented by Itaú.
Nearly double his opponent’s age at 33, Dimitrov enjoyed a career renaissance last year, going 46-18 and winning his ninth title in Brisbane (ATP 250) for the second time to start his season rolling in January.
“Is that his age? Jesus Christ,’’ Dimitrov said of his opponent. “When you see so many different generations there comes a point where it just is. I don’t have it in my head that it’s a great challenge for me. Everyone you’re playing right now can play tennis. It’s about what you want. … I think tennis has so many things that are relatable to outside sport. Tennis is the language of life.”
He was nearly fluent in his impressive run to the finals of last year’s Miami Open when he dispatched 2021 Miami champion Hubert Hurkacz (who pulled out Friday with a back injury), No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz in the semis and current top seed Alexander Zverev in the semis before falling to then No. 3 Jannik Sinner.
“Definitely, that was one of my most memorable tournaments,’’ said Dimitrov, who reached a career-best No. 3 in 2017 after winning four titles, including the ATP Finals and his only Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati. “You never know if you will be able to replicate that again. When you’re in the tournament every single match you try to build up so I’m going to look for one match at a time, one day at a time.
“It was very difficult start of the year for me, so I don’t want to put extra pressure on myself because I’ve been there before and have done it all. … I really need to face myself and listen to my body if I want to keep on doing the same thing.”
For many years a young Dimitrov was dubbed, “Baby Fed,’’ for their very similar styles, including their service motion and one-hand backhand. It seemed to raise unfair expectations to be compared to one of the greatest players of all time.
“None of these young kids should have it,’’ he said. “Absolutely not. I hear some things about the young guys. Let them be. There’s no need to even talk about it. Each player is on his own.
“Let them develop. Let them grow in their own skin. You have enough pressure to go out there and play, to prepare, but if you keep on adding more and more pressure you never know where you are in your life or your career and then you might just explode. So, for me if I was on the other side, I would just forbid comments like that.”
Dimitrov, who has retired from three matches this year with a variety of injuries, will play big-serving Russian Karen Khachanov in the next round after he ended Nick Kyrgios’ one match winning streak (over 29 months while dealing with his wrist issues) with a 7-6 (3), 6-0 victory.
Fourth-seeded Novak Djokovic ended his three-match losing streak – his longest in seven years – with a 6-0, 7-6 (1) victory over Aussie Rinky Hijkata for his 410th Masters 1000 match victory to tie Rafael Nadal for the all-time lead. Djokovic will play Lucky Loser Argentine Camilo Ugo Carabelli in the third round.
Djokovic, 37, who said he was completely over his torn hamstring, is in the third quadrant of the draw which opened up when a sore backed seventh-seeded Daniil Medvedev, the 2023 Miami Open champion, was sent packing with a 6-2, 6-3 loss to 56th-ranked Jaume Munar of Spain. Munar won his first match against a Top 10 player in a Masters or Grand Slam event (1-6 and 2-17 overall).
Also benefiting from Medvedev’s early exit was No. 9 Stefanos Tsitsipas, who advanced in three sets over Chun-Hsin Tseng. It was a good day for couples as the Greek’s girlfriend Paula Badosa advanced, as did Gael Monfils and his wife Elina Svitolina.
Also moving on was fifth-seeded Capar Ruud of Norway, who needed three sets to get past Serb Miomir Kecmanovic, who swept the singles and doubles titles at the nearby Delray Beach Open 250 last month.
Kyrgios, 29, and playing with a protective ranking, and Khachanov have played four times, including two five-setters at majors, and have gone to eight tiebreakers. After dropping the first-set tiebreaker with some sloppy play, the emotional Aussie was broken early in the second set when he foolishly attempted a difficult drop shot instead of ripping his forehand.
After that Nick the entertainer showed off his bag of tricks with jumping overheads and a variety of tweeners en route to a hasty departure.
While Kyrgios was upset that he caved in mentally so easily after dropping the tiebreaker, he was buoyed by his ability to hang with Khachanov, a perennial top-20 player.
“At the end of the match he told me it was good to have me back,’’ said Kyrgios, who admitted his right arm was quite sore, but his wrist and the five painkillers felt OK, but not 100 percent.
“I’m really happy with my performance in the first set. The strides we made this week is the first time I’ve played back-to-back singles matches since my injury, so this is a stepping-stone forward and it’s awesome.
“The fact that I’ve won a match and I’m going toe-to-toe with someone near the Top 20 in the world, I’m right there.”
Medvedev, who hasn’t won a title in more than a year (2024 Indian Wells), has lost four matches to players ranked 47th, 96th, 92nd and 121 this year. The gangly Russian said he has been dealing with a back issue since Indian Wells that has affected his movement. He also was complaining about the balls being too soft throughout the match.
“There were some points I was doing five good shots and they literally don’t do anything,’’ he said. “They don’t go through the court. They don’t go through the air. In a way, I would be happy to play in these conditions if I would be able to play 30-shot rallies, running from right to left. The toughest thing for me was to react to the shots, meaning when he maybe puts a shot where I didn’t expect him to go, I couldn’t get it then. That was a big problem, and that’s why I couldn’t win.”
