Dimitrov marks debut with narrow victory over Thiem

LONDON: Grigor Dimitrov made a winning start to his maiden ATP Finals when he outlasted Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 in a gripping afternoon duel at the O2 Arena on Monday.

The opening match in the Pete Sampras Group produced a feast of stylish backhands from both players but it was Dimitrov, the first Bulgarian to qualify for the tournament in its 48-year-old history, who overcome some late jitters to prevail.

World number six Dimitrov served for the match at 5-4 in the decider but was broken to love before two consecutive double faults by Thiem gave him another chance to close it out.Again Dimitrov wobbled, squandering two match points at 40-15 with a double-fault and a forehand error, but he finally bagged the win when Thiem looped a backhand long.

“The first time I got broken (at 5-4) I thought ‘okay let’s get back up and try again’,” Dimitrov, who enjoyed some noisy support from a contingent of Bulgarian fans, said on court.On Sunday night, a few hours after old master Roger Federer reminded everyone of his enduring magic, Alexander Zverev, the man leading the next generation of men’s tennis, dazzled on his ATP Finals debut.

The 20-year-old German was hot and cold against Croatia’s Marin Cilic but, when it mattered the most, he produced his best tennis to win 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.Zverev appeared to be fading after a dazzling start, but surged back in style to join Federer on top of Boris Becker Group.

Zverev possesses huge power off the ground, yet it was his finesse at the net which earned him a break in the opening game, picking off a low drop volley that gave Cilic no chance.His forehand wavered at times as Cilic cleverly tried to take the pace off the ball with some floaty slices, but Zverev closed out the first set with an ace.

Cilic then upped his serving and forehand power to level the match and then led 3-1 in the third set. At 3-2, he was 40-15 up on serve but Zverev, wound-up by an erroneous over-rule, forged back to break with an exquisite lob.Cilic then dropped serve to love at 4-5 to lose for the sixth time in seven matches at the year-ender.