Tennis-Dimitrov outlasts Rublev to punch U.S. Open quarter-final ticket

By Karl Plume

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov dashed a comeback attempt by sixth seed Andrey Rublev to reach the U.S. Open quarter-finals for the first time since 2019 with a 6-3 7-6(3) 1-6 3-6 6-3 victory on Sunday.

The ninth seed won 80% of his first-serve points and fired 17 aces to frustrate the Russian, who slammed his racket against the Arthur Ashe Stadium court and his own body, which resulted in a cut wrist that required medical attention in the first set.

The evenly matched clash swung the Bulgarian's way in the decisive fifth set to the delight of the New York crowd, which included Serena Williams sipping the event's signature honey deuce cocktail.

Rublev's frustration spilled over when he started the fourth game of the first set with two double faults, and he blasted a forehand into the net and another wide for Dimitrov's first break of the match.

Dimitrov looked to be in the driver's seat after he claimed the final five points of a second-set tiebreak, only to see the Russian battle back to tie the match by seizing the next two sets.

A fourth game break in the final set gave Dimitrov an edge he would not surrender, setting up a quarter-final meeting with either American Frances Tiafoe or Australia's Alexei Popyrin.

"The steal of the second set really helped me to keep on believing and to keep on trusting in my game and in my body," Dimitrov told reporters.

"After the first couple of sets he started playing amazing. I mean, there's not much else I could have done, so I had to pull the reins back a little bit and wait for an opportunity.

"It happened in the fifth. I think that was the big difference today. After that I ran with the match, but it was very challenging."

(Reporting by Karl Plume in New York, editing by Pritha Sarkar and Ken Ferris)