Stan Wawrinka Rallies Past Grigor Dimitrov at Cincinnati Open 2019

Stan Wawrinka continues his dominance over Grigor Dimitrov as he wins the battle of one-handed backhand in the first round of the Western and Southern Open 2019. Wawrinka rallied past Dimitrov to defeat him in three sets 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 in 2 hours and 33 minutes.

With this victory, Wawrinka widens their head-to-head record to 7-4. Their last meeting was just 7 days ago at the Montreal Open 2019, where the Swiss defeated the Bulgarian in straight sets in the round of 64. Stan also extended his winning streak against Dimitrov as he conquered the fifth consecutive victory against the 28-year-old.

The first set was quite an equal one with both the players holding their serve strongly until 6-5 when Stan Wawrinka was trying to take the set to the tiebreaker on his serve. The 34-year-old did well as he earned two game points at 40-15 but failed to convert it as Grigor Dimitrov won four consecutive points to win the opening set 7-5. The backhand slice worked well for Dimitrov against the Swiss.

Grigor Dimitrov was on the front foot as he took the momentum to the second set earning a breakpoint on Stan’s first service game. However, the world No. 23 held his nerves to save the breakpoint and win three consecutive points to hold his serve.

The world No. 74 was serving strong as he lost only 8 points back on his serve till the 5th game of the second set when he hit four double faults to gift the game to Stan Wawrinka. The Bulgarian earned two breakpoint opportunities in the eighth game but failed to convert them as Stan Wawrinka held his serve successfully. Wawrinka then took the match to the deciding set as claimed the second set 6-4.

Wawrinka took the momentum in the final set as he broke early to take a crucial lead. He again broke Dimitrov in the 5th game to earn a lead of 4-1 in the third set. Stan then missed a couple of match points as he was broken in the eighth game. The Swiss serving for the match at 5-4 was again broken as Dimitrov was again on serve at 5-5. The two exchange breaks to take the decider to the tiebreaker. Wawrinka dominated the tiebreaker as he won the set 7-6(4)

Stan Wawrinka will face the winner between Andrey Rublev and Nikoloz Basilashvili in the second round of the Cincinnati Masters.