Google News
American tennis player Marcos Giron credited coming up big in the most important points as the key in his shock win over Alex de Minaur. Giron, ranked at No. 67 in the world, surprised third-seeded de Minaur 7-6 (5) 7-6 (2) to reach the Sofia quarterfinal.
"Tough match to Alex,” Giron said in his on-court interview, as quoted on the ATP website. “We’ve had a few battles before. Last week we played and it was a really close one and an epic match, so I knew it was going to be a war.
Today it was pretty even but I just played better on the big points than he did. I am stoked to get through and keep going”.
Giron earned a hard-fought win
Giron failed to convert a break point in the first game of the match but claimed the first break of the match in the third game.
However, Giron's lead was short-lived as de Minaur broke back in the sixth game. Giron, who saved two consecutive break points in the eighth game to ultimately force a tie-break, realized his second set point in the tie-break to win a tight opener.
After winning a tight first set, Giron had five break points in the second game of the second set but failed to earn a break. Giron then dropped his serve in the ninth game but broke back de Minaur while the Australian was serving for the set.
As no more breaks were seen, the set went into another tie-break. Giron won the opening six points in the tie-break, before realizing his third match point to book a straight-set win. “Resilience is the key word,” Giron added.
“Second set was tough. I had break opportunities at 40/0 and I think I had five or six opportunities in the first game, and he did a good job sticking round. I am happy to be resilient”. Giron plays next against Australian John Millman, who beat Ilya Marchenko.