French Open 2018: Jared Donaldson fools Grigor Dimitrov on underhand serve but loses five-set marathon
No. 4 Grigor Dimitrov got taken to the brink by No. 57 Jared Donaldson in a marathon on Wednesday. Dimitrov's Round of 64 match went five sets and took four hours and 19 minutes to finish. Dimitrov survived; 6-7, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 10-8; sending him to the Round of 32.
The match went so long that Donaldson struggled with a cramp toward the end, which Dimitrov capitalized on to break in the 17th game of the fifth set. It's a tough way to go down, but Donaldson played his best against one of the top players in the world.
Donaldson also wasn't above a little trickery. In a 6-6 game in the final set, he noticed Dimitrov standing towards the baseline. He hit a crafty underhand quick-serve that resulted in Dimitrov hitting the ball long, giving Donaldson a 7-6 lead for the set. While it didn't hold up, it was a fun little moment late in what had been an arduous match.
USA's Jared Donaldson pulls the underhand quick serve on Grigor Dimitrov to finish a game in the 5th set pic.twitter.com/IZX9T3x5eL — Born Salty (@cjzero) May 30, 2018
Even after surviving this match, Dimitrov's life isn't about to get any easier. His Round of 32 match comes against Fernando Verdasco of Spain. The No. 30 seed made quick work of Guido Andreozzi in his Round of 64 match. On Friday, Verdasco will look to upset Dimitrov to advance to the fourth round of the French Open for the seventh time of his career.