Dimitrov rifles past Monfils, makes Wimbledon’s round of 16

Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, the No 10 seed, provided a flawless takedown of 37-year-old French legend Gael Monfils on Friday at the All England Club, riding his hot hand to a breezy 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 victory.

It was the pair of former junior Wimbledon champion’s fifth overall meeting, but their first in eight years, and Dimitrov defeated Monfils for just the second time, and first time since 2014.

The 33-year-old Bulgarian, a 2017 semi-finalist at Wimbledon, cracked 25 winners and won all but eight points on serve as he eased past Monfils in one hour and 47 minutes to reach the round of 16 for the second consecutive year and the fourth time overall.

“You keep on building in our sport, you never know when you might produce an amazing match, an amazing tournament,” Dimitrov said. “Overall I’m just very happy that I’m just enjoying it. I feel very humble at the moment and I just want to make the most out of it.”

Asked about expectations Dimitrov, who improved to 32-10 on the season, said: “Bring it on. I’m used to it by now, and I’m my own harshest critic. Whatever else comes at me, I’m ready for it, whether it’s good or bad. I try not to think too far ahead, and to stay in the present moment.

“It’s one of the toughest things actually, sometimes you really just need to go onto the next page. I think I’ve written quite a few pages and every time I feel like I’m a new chapter.”

Dimitrov, ranked No 10, will play the winner of the match between German Jan-Lennard Struff and Russian Daniil Medvedev, the No 5 seed, next.

The 33-year-old Bulgarian won against Serb Dusan Lajovic (6-3, 6-4, 7-5) and recovered to beat Chinese Juncheng Shang (5-7, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2, 6-4) ahead of his victory.

In the previous rounds of The Championships, Monfils, ranked No 33, edged out No 22 seed Adrian Mannarino (6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4) and beat Swiss Stan Wawrinka (7-6 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (3)).

Wimbledon (Grand Slam), other third-round matches (All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, grass, GBP 50,000,000, most recent results first):

• Tommy Paul (12) beat Alexander Bublik (23): 6-3, 6-4, 6-2
• Roberto Bautista Agut vs. Fabio Fognini
• Brandon Nakashima vs. Ugo Humbert
• Alexei Popyrin vs. Novak Djokovic
• Holger Rune vs. Quentin Halys
• Lucas Pouille vs. Alex De Minaur
• Arthur Fils vs. Roman Safiullin
• Cameron Norrie vs. Alexander Zverev
• Taylor Fritz vs. Alejandro Tabilo
• Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard vs. Emil Ruusuvuori
• Francisco Comesana vs. Lorenzo Musetti
• Jannik Sinner vs. Miomir Kecmanovic
• Denis Shapovalov vs. Ben Shelton
• Jan-Lennard Struff vs. Daniil Medvedev
• Carlos Alcaraz vs. Frances Tiafoe

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