Dimitrov completes captivating five-set win over Rublev to reach US Open quarter-finals
The Bulgarian reached the last eight of the US Open for the second time in his career with an epic victory over Andrey Rublev on Arthur Ashe Stadium
Grigor Dimitrov, US Open, 2024 © Chryslene Caillaud / Panoramic
Five years on from his last appearance in the US Open quarter-finals, Grigor Dimitrov has returned to the last eight in New York with a stunning five-set win over Andrey Rublev, overcoming the Russian 6-3, 7-6 (3), 1-6, 3-6, 6-3 in an engrossing encounter under the roof on Arthur Ashe.
Victory today means Dimitrov becomes the first player born after after 1990 to earn 300 hard-court wins. He did it the hard way, coming through a three-hour-and-39-minute epic with the world No 6 to reach his eighth Grand Slam quarter-final.
Rublev, meanwhile, had been hoping to get through to his eleventh last-eight showing at a major, having lost all ten of his previous appearances at this level. He was also aiming to overcome a two-set deficit for the second time in this tournament, but Dimitrov halted his courageous comeback to clinch just his second fourth-round victory at Flushing Meadows in thrilling fashion.
dimitrov arrests mid-match malaise to surge into us open quarter-finals
The first set was close, with only a single pivotal break of serve separating the two. It was Dimitrov who earned it in the fourth game en route to a 6-3 opener.
After an even start to the second, Rublev pounced in the eighth game after a desperately poor game from Dimitrov, only for the Bulgarian to break straight back as his opponent served for the set at 5-3. Dimitrov then proceeded to power through the resulting tiebreak 7-3, having initially trailed 3-1.
Rublev was hard done by to be two sets down, having been the better player for large swathes of the second set.
But with the arrival of the third set came a huge shift in momentum as Dimitrov’s early sharpness rapidly dissipated. A break for Rublev in the opening game of the middle stanza set the Russian on his way for a comfortable third-set win as his opponent’s level dipped considerably. Rublev broke again in the fifth and seventh games as he wrapped up the third in just 66 minutes to halve the deficit.
Sensing the moment to take advantage of Dimitrov’s continued slump, Rublev kept his foot on the pedal, breaking in the sixth game of a tense fourth set to draw level with Dimitrov and send the match into a fitting decider.
But it was the Bulgarian who was able to impressively arrest his two-set malaise, regathering his earlier level to strike in the fourth game of the final set, before consolidating comfortably for a 4-1 lead.
Despite Rublev’s best efforts, earning two break points at 2-4 down, he could not find a way back into the match as Dimitrov held firm on serve to close out a momentous win in front of a delirious Arthur Ashe crowd, with a certain Serena Williams among those in attendance celebrating the Bulgarian’s win.
“She gave me a good prep talk yesterday,” Dimitrov said of Williams in his on-court interview.
“It’s amazing to play in front of good friends and family,” he continued.
“I was playing fairly good in the first two sets. For some reason, my body was starting to lose its rhythm a little bit. Andrey Rublev isn’t going to just give up this match. You know how he is. I just have to stay patient. I think today the biggest thing that helped me was my experience.
“It’s a battle every single day. Now I think where I’m at, it’s more of my experience. Everyone knows how to play great tennis.
“It all comes down to a few points here and there and that’s actually what happened today. A couple of points in the fifth set and that’s what was enough to get me over the line.”
open half of the draw leaves tantalising race to us open final
Dimitrov will play either hugely popular home hope Frances Tiafoe or Alexei Popyrin, the conqueror on Novak Djokovic, in the quarter-finals as he seeks to reach just his second US Open semi-final.
With the 24-time Grand Slam champion crashing out in the third round, this half of the draw is now ripe with opportunity for someone to take advantage. Dimitrov, with all his experience and talent, is the obvious stand-out name now in this quarter. But Alexander Zverev still lurks ominously in this half, with Americans Brandon Nakashima and Taylor Fritz also hoping to capitalise.
After 16 years on tour, the supremely gifted Dimitrov has yet to reach a Grand Slam final. Should he do so in New York, there is little doubt he’d be a crowd favourite.
But there is a lot of tennis to be played between now and next Sunday. Regardless of whom seizes their chance from this half of the draw, it will be a tense and thrilling race to the US Open final from here on in.
