Thumbs up: Dimitrov overcomes injury to seal late-night victory over Monfils

Grigor Dimitrov battled through a thumb injury late on Monday night to record his first hard-court win over Gael Monfils in dramatic fashion at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

The 13th-seeded Dimitrov struck his left thumb with his racquet when blazing a forehand wide in the fourth game of the deciding set, later surrendering the break lead he had forged. Yet the Bulgarian, who received on-court treatment from the physio, responded with a watertight final-set tie-break to secure a 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(2) victory and reach the fourth round at the ATP Masters 1000.

With his 146th victory at Masters 1000 level, Dimitrov surpassed John Isner at 11th for most match wins since the series’ introduction in 1990.

By overcoming Monfils in three hours, Dimitrov set an intriguing round-of-16 clash with two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz. While the Spaniard does lead their Lexus ATP Head2Head series 3-2, Dimitrov will take confidence in, having beaten Alcaraz in their previous two meetings, at ATP Masters events in Shanghai (2023) and Miami (2024).

The No. 15 in the PIF ATP Rankings was in discomfort for much of the final set, and the momentum shifted firmly in Monfils’ favour after he reeled off four three consecutive games from 1-3. But Dimitrov stood firm, hit big and reasserted his dominance in a one-sided deciding-set tie-break, during which he soared into an ultimately unassailable 5/0 lead. By recording his first hard-court win over Monfils in his fourth attempt, Dimitrov improved to 3-4 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

At 38, Monfils was aiming to become the second-oldest player to reach the fourth round at an ATP Masters 1000 event after 40-year-old Ivo Karlovic in Indian Wells 2019. The Frenchman produced moments of magic, such as his gutsy finish to a 28-shot rally in the first set, but the 2021 semi-finalist Dimitrov kept his cool to cross the line.