Grigor Dimitrov was eliminated in the eighth round of the Masters 1000 tournament on red courts in the Spanish capital Madrid with a prize fund of 8 055 385 euros.

The Bulgarian, ranked No. 15 in the scheme, lost 7:5, 7:6(7), 4:6 to No. 78 in the world ranking Gabriel Diallo (Canada, "lucky loser"). The duel lasted 2 hours and 24 minutes.

The first part passed without a single breakthrough opportunity for both tennis players until 5:5. Then Dimitrov hit his shot and broke for 6:5, and then closed the set in his favor with a game on 15.

The Bulgarian posted the only two break points at 1:2 in the second set, which went to a tiebreak. In it Dimitrov missed three match points, and from his first opportunity Diallo managed to level the set.

The third set started nightmarishly for the Bulgarian tennis player, who lost the first two games. Dimitrov was not able to reach a single break point until the end and lost with the final score 4:6.

The Bulgarian thus failed to qualify for the second time in his career for the quarterfinals in Madrid. The first occasion was from the 2015 season (loss to Rafael Nadal). | BGNES