Grigor Dimitrov qualified for the second round of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships. Our best tennis player defeated Yoshihito Nishioka from Japan in three sets - 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, in nearly an hour and 40 minutes of play.

The 34-year-old from Haskovo, who had not lost a set in his previous three official matches with the Asian, started strongly with an early break, materializing another one by the end of the opening set. In the second and third, he made one break in the eighth and ninth games, respectively, to claim a convincing win. Grigor terrorized his opponent with his serve, hitting as many as 26 aces with only 3 double faults. He lost only four first serve points for the entire match, won 19/21 net points and finished with 49 winners and 23 unforced errors.

His next opponent in London, where he was a semi-finalist in 2014, is Corentin Moutét of France. The finalist in Mallorca has won his two previous meetings with the Bulgarian so far, including a complete turnaround from 0-2 to 3-2 sets at the All England Club in 2019.

In another match, Alexander Zverev became the fourth top-10 player to pack his bags after a first-round loss. The world number three from Germany lost to Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech in five sets - 6-7 (3), 7-6 (8), 3-6, 7-6 (5), 4-6 in a total of 4 hours and 45 minutes of play. Their match was resumed today at a set apiece after darkness interrupted it yesterday. Rinderknech kept his composure in the end to claim the biggest win of his career, while Zverev joined the already defeated Lorenzo Musetti (7), Holger Rune (8) and Daniil Medvedev (9).

Nos. 4 and 5 Jack Draper and Taylor Fritz made no mistake against Sebastian Baez and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, respectively. Home favorite Draper's opponent Baez withdrew, while Fritz made a complete turnaround today against his French foe, who hit him with an ace at 246 km/h yesterday.

Halle Open winner Alexander Bublik, seeded 28th, is also out after a five-set defeat to Jaume Munar of Spain. | BGNES