Grigor Dimitrov was expected to have a comfortable match in the Brisbane International opener against John Millman, but eventually that ended up as an epic.

The Australian is ranked no.128, and he accessed the main draw as a wildcard. John got to the 2^nd round after beating the qualifier Peter Polansky, and on paper he had no chances against the Bulgarian.

Millman was immediately broken in the 3^rd game of the opener (1-2), but then he got the break back soon after (2-2) to play rock solid tennis and win the 1st set 6-4.

The script was similar in the second set when Dimitrov broke the Australian again in the 5^th game (3-2) to concede his serve in the following game (3-3). The affair went to the breaker, and Millman had 2 match points when leading 6-5 and 7-6. At that point, Dimitrov made it clear who was the boss to save the 1^st match point after an epic rally and the second one with a blistering forehand before winning the breaker (10-8).

In the decider, Grigor broke Millman again in the 4^th game (3-1), and this time he didn’t concede his serve anymore.

The Bulgarian sensation won the contest 4-6 7-6 (8) 6-3 after 2 hours and 38 minutes.

I played well the 2 key points. DIMITROV

After the match, Grigor saluted his opponent to comment

“I’ve seen him play quite a few times out here, playing really aggressive, striking the ball amazing, and it was no less tonight. I’m the winner today, but he put himself in that position to win the match.

“I’m just very pleased [with] the way I played on those key points and especially on the match points. So I think that gives me a certain amount of confidence coming into any other match that I have to play now.”

Next vs. Edmund

Grigor will face Kyle Edmund for a place in the semifinal. The head to head is 1-0 for Dimitrov, but the Brit is playing a really great tennis. This will be an interesting one.