WHAT HAPPENED: A beloved bromance had to take the backseat to a five-set battle on Sunday, when Grigor Dimitrov dominated Andrey Rublev, 6-3, 7-6(3), 1-6, 3-6, 6-3, in their Round 4 meeting at the 2024 US Open.
Take two heavy forehand hitters, mix them with a hardcourt and you’re served a delectable fourth round, five-set sizzling match at Flushing Meadows.
Dimitrov and Rublev, whose bromance has been well-publicized beyond the baseline, have met a total of seven times, and before Sunday, Rublev had the slight edge over Dimitrov with a 4-3 lead.
The first set saw the friends split games, and after Dimitrov held on his serve, he notched the first break of the game after serving Rublev an ace.
The two couldn’t depend on their serves throughout the first set, as Dimitrov clocked less than half his first serves in (48%), while Rublev only did marginally better at 54%. While their serves weren’t consistent, the two hitters gave a riveting rally performance. In the first set after Dimitrov sent a backhand slice over the net, Rublev returned a backhand slice right back that cut low and short across the net and out of Dimitrov’s reach.
Set 2 turned into a tiebreak and at 4-3, Dimitrov broke Rublev, and kept the points rolling in, closing out the set with a forehand winner.
The third and fourth sets turned the tide in Rublev’s favor. In Round 2 of the tournament, he came back from two sets down to prevail over Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, and it appeared on Sunday afternoon he was about to do the same. The 26-year-old turned on the burners and brandished 6 aces and 12 winners to Dimitrov in the third set, and managed to convert a critical breakpoint in the fourth set to tie the score and force the buddies to brawl out in a fifth and final set.
Repeatedly throughout this tournament, Dimitrov’s age has been a continual topic of conversation, as his contemporaries Diego Schwartzman and Dominic Thiem have retired. But on Sunday, it appears that his age, and 15 years on tour gave him the wisdom, and most importantly, the patience needed to stay cool and confident in the match. In the fifth set, he sent nine winners and four aces to end the match in three hours and 39 minutes.
“I think after the first couple of sets, he started playing amazing," Dimitrov said. "I mean, there's not much else I could have done. I felt so I had to pull the reins back a little bit and wait for an opportunity. I knew eventually I might get one throughout the fourth and the fifth, and it happened in the fifth. So I think that was the big difference today, and after that, I ran with the match, but it was very, very challenging.”
WHAT IT MEANS: For the first time since 2019, Dimitrov reaches the quarterfinals in Flushing Meadows.
Dimitrov’s latest results at the majors this year emphasize a remarkable upswing for the Bulgarian. He captured the title in Brisbane to start the year, and since then has been continually performing, ascending into the Top 10 rankings for the first time since 2018.
Queens marks his second quarterfinal appearance at a major this year, his first at Wimbledon earlier this summer.
At 33, he is the oldest player left in the draw, but that doesn’t deter the No. 9 seed.
When asked after his match if he felt mature and if he could keep up with his Gen Z counterparts, Dimitrov laughed, and credited his time and experience on tour.
“Yeah, I feel very mature. So it's been about every single day," he said. "And now I think where I'm at, that's what I'm saying, like, it's more of my experience.”
Up next, Dimitrov will face either Alexei Popyrin, the Australian who took down Novak Djokovic earlier in the tournament, or American Frances Tiafoe. While the two hot shots are making waves at the tournament, Dimitrov’s seven-plus years on the tour will be put to the test when he faces either of them.
MATCH POINT: Dimitrov’s win over Rublev on Sunday marks the 450th tour-level win of his career. The victory also is 300th hard court win, and he has become the first player born in the 1990s to reach that record.
