Ilya Ivashka left the home crowd speechless after he managed to knock out one of their mainstay players at the 2022 Sofia Open season.
At the Sofia Open five seasons ago, the host, Grigor Dimitrov, made the home crowd rejoice by lifting the Sofia Open trophy with only one set down. However, this season the world number 71 won’t let that happen again.
The 28-year-old surprisingly managed to overthrow third seed Dimitrov 6-3, 7-6 to advance to the quarter-finals. He saved all seven break point opportunities he faced in a game that lasted 1 hour 52 minutes.
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“It was a very tough match and I feel very happy that in the end I won. It’s very difficult to play against Grigor, especially here at his home,” said Ivashka.
The crowd tried to motivate their top player, Dimitrov, to force a decisive set, including chanting “Grigor! Grigor! Grigor!” after almost every point he won. But the world number 71 endured a crucial moment of tension to advance to the Sofia Open quarter-finals.
“I think holding the tension is the key this time, because the pressure is quite high. Tenu all the audience supported him, so, it was very difficult mentally, but I handled it well,” admits Ivashka.
Waiting for Ilya Ivashka in the Sofia Open quarter-finals is the fifth seed, Holger Rune or the Italian tennis player, Lorenzo Sonego.
Sonego bagged his sixth straight win thanks to a 6-3, 6-4 win over Spaniard Bernabe Zapata MIralles.
After winning his third career title without dropping a set at last week’s Moselle Open. Sonego kept up that impressive form with stunning serve after he won 86 percent of points from his first serve in 79 minutes.
Marc Andrea Huesler and Fernando Verdasco also claimed wins in straight sets in the first round of the Sofia Open.
Switzerland’s Andrea Huesler thrashed Frenchman Geoffrey Blancaneaux 6-4, 6-4 and booked a second round match against second seed Pablo Carreno Busta. Meanwhile, Spanish veteran Verdasco knocked out sixth seed Nikoloz Basilashvili 7-6 7-5 and will next challenge Aleksandar Vukic.
While a convincing service performance helped the German tennis player, Jan Lennard Struff. He won 90 percent of his first serve points en route to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Serbian Dusan Lajovic and will meet Frenchman Ugo Humbert for a place in the Sofia Open quarter-finals.
