The 10th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros for the first time at age 33, beating No. 8 Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (3) at Court Suzanne Lenglen on Sunday, June 2.
“Better late than never,” said Dimitrov, who was wearing bandages on the side of his hand and arm after getting treatment. “I was just telling myself: I’m going to get to every single ball that is there,” he said. “I’m like: No ball is passing me.”
Dimitrov entered the day 0-2 in fourth-rounders in Paris but made it to the final eight in his 14th appearance here, giving him a full set of quarterfinals from the four Grand Slam tournaments. The Bulgarian, who will play No. 2 Jannik Sinner next, got to the semifinals once apiece at the US Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon. “The French Open was the only Slam I felt like I could never make that extra step,” Dimitrov said after dropping to his knees when the match ended. “Today, 15 years later, I made it, so I’m really happy with that.”
Sinner defeats Moutet
Sinner moved on despite a terrible-as-can-be start, getting broken in each of his first three service games and trailing 5-0 after 22 minutes against unseeded Frenchman Corentin Moutet in front of a boisterous crowd at Court Philippe Chatrier on Sunday night. But Sinner, the Australian Open champion in January, eventually got going and won 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1.
“Let’s say there are lessons today I can learn from,” said Sinner, who came into the tournament with questions about a hip injury that forced him to pull out of the Italian Open last month. “I’m happy with how I responded. I was in trouble, but then I raised my level.”
The other men’s quarterfinal on the bottom half of the bracket will be No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz vs. No. 9 Stefanos Tsitsipas. Alcaraz, a two-time major champion, defeated No. 21 Felix Auger-Aliassime, and Tsitsipas, a two-time Grand Slam runner-up, came back to eliminate unseeded Matteo Arnaldi 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-2.