“After coming from Rio and the marathon that I had in Rio, it’s very important victory for me”.
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Dimitrov, 25, who has struggled for consistency, was buoyed by his performance against doubles partner Wawrinka. The Bulgarian is through to his fourth Cincinnati quarterfinal.
Olympic champion Andy Murray restored some order at the Western & Southern Open by cutting down South African giant Kevin Anderson to reach the quarter-finals on an upset-filled Thursday in Cincinnati.
Nadal came into to Cincinnati fresh off winning a gold medal in doubles at the Rio Olympics and losing in the bronze medal match in singles.
Second seed Stan Wawrinka polished off a two-day victory as he takes aim at a return to the year-end season finals in London. “I think he wasn’t playing his best tennis”.
The match began Tuesday night but was held up several times due to rain before being postponed late in the evening.
“I need matches like that”, Dimitrov said.
Of the seven remaining seeds, four were knocked out, including third-seeded Rafael Nadal, who fell to 19-year-old Croat Borna Coric. Nishikori stopped Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-2.
In the later matches, Coric learned he will face his compatriot Marin Cilic next after he ousted Berdych in three sets.
Steve Johnson replaced John Isner as the top-ranked American thanks to a 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) upset of French seventh seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Angelique Kerber, who will take over as world No1 if she wins the women’s event, beat Kristina Mladenovic 6-0, 7-5 to reach the last 16.
Third seed and 2015 finalist Simona Halep started with a 6-3, 6-1 defeat of Annika Beck.
Top seed Murray is chasing the number one ranking of absent Novak Djokovic with the US Open approaching on August 29.
‘That’s something that’s not easy for tennis players – Murray said after his straight sets win over Juan Monaco – You have to be careful with that, because it totally changes how it feels on the racquet.
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Monfils now has just 10 days to get himself fit ahead of the US Open following an intense Rio 2016, where he was edged by Japan’s Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals.
