Grigor Dimitrov, 31, says he is happy that he still gets nervous before matches because that means he still cares about the game and still has the desire to win. On Monday, Dimitrov played his opener at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam as he dismantled Aslan Karatsev 6-1 6-3.
Dimitrov, who was beaten by Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open third round, was playing his first match since exiting the opening Grand Slam of the season. “I came out to compete. I was kind of eager after Australia. I didn’t play anything.
I had some time to spend at home. I got fed up with practice. I was like, ‘OK, it’s go time!’ I was happy that also I’m getting nervous before matches. I’m very happy with that, to be honest, because I’m embracing it. It means that I still care a lot and I still want to do a lot every time that I get out there on the court.
Today that was my goal, to get out there and play a really good game,” Dimitrov said, per the ATP website.
How Dimitrov beat Karatsev?
Dimitrov came out firing against Karatsev as he earned back-to-back breaks to open an early and comfortable 4-0 lead.
In the fifth game, Karatsev finally got on the board as he served out his service game to cut the deficit to 4-1. However, it didn’t take long for Dimitrov to clinch another break as he broke Karatsev again in the seventh game – when the Russian was serving to stay in the first set.
After easily winning the first set, Dimitrov also got off to a strong start to the second set as he broke Karatsev early for a 3-0 lead. Up by a set and a break, Dimitrov held on to his serve the rest of the match to complete a two-set win.
