A quiet New Year’s Eve helps Dimitrov march on in Brisbane

New year, same old dominance in Brisbane from Grigor Dimitrov.

The Bulgarian on Wednesday extended his winning streak in the Australian city to seven matches with a 6-2, 7-6(5) victory against home favourite Aleksandar Vukic. The defending champion has now reached the quarter-finals eight times across nine consecutive appearances at the Brisbane International presented by Evie.

“It’s such a home atmosphere here, honestly, it doesn’t feel like a tournament to me. So I think that is why the excitement is different,” said two-time titlist Dimitrov in his on-court interview. “I think my attitude also changes quite a bit. It’s a very special week. It is close to Christmas and New Year’s Eve and you get the chance to see the positive side of things… I think everyone feels at home, and that is one of the best feelings as a player.”

Despite sealing a straight-sets victory on Wednesday, Dimitrov’s victory against the No. 68 in the PIF ATP Rankings Vukic did not come easily. The Bulgarian needed five match points to complete his 83-minute triumph.

A strong serving display was the foundation to Dimitrov’s success. He struck 12 aces and won 94 per cent (31/33) of points behind his first delivery to set a quarter-final meeting against eighth seed Jordan Thompson, who later downed Alex Michelsen 7-5, 6-3. Dimitrov later confirmed that he had not been distracted by the New Year’s Eve celebrations in Brisbane ahead of his match.

“I saw the kids’ fireworks, which was plenty for me. Then I got woken up by the real ones for adults,” joked Dimitrov. “But I was fast asleep at midnight. I got the chance to see them a little bit on the news this morning. I‘m just very happy to get back at it. A very tricky opponent today. Slowly but surely, I’m starting to find my game, but I feel like there is quite a bit to brush up, so hopefully each match I can build up a little bit more and play better and better.”

Jiri Lehecka and Nicolas Jarry also advanced to the quarter-finals on Wednesday in Queensland. The pair, which will face off in the last eight, enjoyed contrasting second-round victories inside Pat Rafter Arena.

Lehecka held off qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-4 in his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with the Japanese lefty. In doing so, he became the first Czech man to reach the Brisbane quarter-finals since Radek Stepanek in 2012. Jarry breezed through his clash with Benjamin Bonzi 6-2, 6-3.