Stefanos Tsitsipas takes down Dimitrov in Madrid

Grigor Dimitrov seemingly can't find a way to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas on clay courts, as the Greek proved better once again, beating him at the 2022 Madrid Open.

The two met multiple times on the clay courts, and even though the Bulgarian player could find success away from the red dirt against Tsitsipas, the Greek player just reigns supreme against Dimitrov when it comes to the high-bouncing surface.

He first bested him on the clay courts at the 2020 French Open, winning 6-3, 7-6(9), 6-2, and he added his second win just a couple of weeks ago at the 2022 Barcelona Open, winning easily 6-1, 6-4.

Their match at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid, which was their third on clay, was a bit more competitive overall, but in the grand scheme of things, it did not change the result.

Tsitsipas was sure in his play, and he cruised to a straight-set victory against the Bulgarian player, who could not find the level he had previous days. Dimitrov played two superb matches in Madrid, but it seems like he used all of his good luck in those, beating Maxime Cressy and Diego Schwartzman.

Against Tsitsipas, the Bulgarian was overmatched in almost every facet of the game. In his defense, the Greek is one of the premier clay performers, and it showed, even after the match started well for both.

Read also

"It was good magic, a fair amount of magic dust" - Tsitsipas after Madrid opener

Neither had much trouble winning their service game, and that stayed until 3-2, when Tsitsipas finally found a breakthrough, breaking his opponent's serve during a string of ten consecutive points won.

He broke his opponent's serve and held on to it to win the set 6-3. The second set was quite similar, but this time around, Dimitrov struggled even more, having to save break points in almost every game he played on his serve.

The Greek eventually broke his opponent's serve and cruised to a 6-4 second-set finish to win the match 6-3, 6-4, and reach the quarter-finals of the 2022 Madrid Open, taking on the sixth-seeded Andrey Rublev.

Read also

Alexander Zverev advances to Madrid Open quarterfinal after Musetti retires