Roland-Garros: Dominant Dimitrov dismisses Altmaier for round of 16 spot

Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, the No 28 seed, defeated German Daniel Altmaier 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 to move into the last 16 of Roland-Garros at Stade Roland-Garros in Paris on Saturday evening.

Heading into the match, world No 79 Daniel Altmaier was posing a significant problem in the lower section of the men’s singles draw. The German had already eliminated title hopeful Jannik Sinner in a dramatic five set encounter, to go with his pre-Roland-Garros success which saw Altmaier make the Madrid quarterfinals and win a Challenger in Sarasota.

However, Grigor Dimitrov was not to fall victim to the 24-year-old’s propensity for long rallies. The Bulgarian won 75% of his first serve points, crushing 30 winners and only 23 unforced errors. Altmaier, on the other hand, showed signs of fatigue after playing the fifth longest match in Roland-Garros history, spraying 39 unforced errors across the three set loss.

Dimitrov, ranked No 29, will face the winner of the match between German Alexander Zverev, the No 22 seed, and American Frances Tiafoe, the No 12 seed, next. The Bulgarian won against Kazakh qualifier Timofey Skatov (6-0, 6-3, 6-2) and Finn Emil Ruusuvuori (7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-4) ahead of his victory.

Paris (Grand Slam), other third-round results (Stade Roland-Garros, clay, EUR 49.600.000, most recent results first):

• Alexander Zverev vs. Frances Tiafoe: saturday
• Francisco Cerundolo (23) beat Taylor Fritz (9): 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5
• Tomas Martin Etcheverry beat Borna Coric (15): 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-2
• Nicolas Jarry beat Marcos Giron: 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-3
• Holger Rune (6) beat Genaro Alberto Olivieri (Q): 6-4, 6-1, 6-3
• Yoshihito Nishioka (27) beat Thiago Seyboth Wild (Q): 3-6, 7-6 (8), 2-6, 6-4, 6-0
• Casper Ruud (4) beat Zhizhen Zhang: 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4
• Carlos Alcaraz (1) beat Denis Shapovalov (26): 6-1, 6-4, 6-2
• Juan Pablo Varillas beat Hubert Hurkacz (13): 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-2
• Stefanos Tsitsipas (5) beat Diego Schwartzman: 6-2, 6-2, 6-3
• Lorenzo Musetti (17) beat Cameron Norrie (14): 6-1, 6-2, 6-4
• Novak Djokovic (3) beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (29): 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-2
• Sebastian Ofner (Q) beat Fabio Fognini: 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, 1-6, 6-4
• Lorenzo Sonego beat Andrey Rublev (7): 5-7, 0-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3
• Karen Khachanov (11) beat Thanasi Kokkinakis (WC): 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (5)