istanbul16schwartzman_dimitrov

Points won by each set: [ 45-45, 42-44, 26-8 # ]
Points won directly behind the serve:
6 % Schwartzman – 6 of 95
11 % Dimitrov – 13 of 115

The shortest titlelist of the 21st Century? Very likely… The 5’7″ (170 cm) Argentinian already his advancement to the final could consider as a big result because he’d reached just one ATP semifinal before (Istanbul ’15) and arrived in Turkey on a 5-match losing streak. The 1st set was unusual, with eight breaks of serve, the Bulgarian [29] led four times with a break: 3:1*, 4:3 (GP), 5:4 & 6:5. In the 2nd set he established a 5:2* (30/15) lead, and a miracle happened – Schwartzman [87] held, won second consecutive game being two points away from defeat (one deuce), and another game from *4:5 (0/30). At 5-all Dimitrov suffered a muscle strain in his left thigh. His movement was clearly limited since then, but he played five competitive games including the second tie-break in which he was three points away from the title at 4:5. As he lost his serve in the 2nd game of the final set he was fed up, destroyed his racquet to get a warning. At 0:4* (0/40) he destroyed another racquet which mean the point penalty and automatic ‘love-five’. Serving to stay in the final he led 40/15, but Schwartzman won the following two points. A rather bizarre situation occurred then – Dimitrov didn’t want to continue so he went to his chair, said something to Mohamed Lahyani, and destroyed the third racquet. Lahyani hadn’t even time to announce a game penalty – immediately after the third devastation, Dimitrov shook hands with the umpire and did the same with his opponent. “I let my family down, I let my team down, I let my fans down with that kind of behavior, which I definitely apologize for,” Dimitrov said.

Schwartzman’s route to his maiden title (38th main-level event):
1 Facundo Bagnis 6-1, 6-4
2 Bernard Tomic 6-2, 6-2
Q Damir Dzumhur 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-2 – 1 m.p.
S Federico Delbonis 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2
W Grigor Dimitrov 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 6-0

# Actually the Argentinian won 23 points in the final set, he got another three points as the consequence of penalty points for the Bulgarian… Dimitrov smashes three racquets

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