Bulgaria defeated Great Britain 2-1 in the most thrilling matchup of the first day at the 2020 ATP Cup.
It was a good start into the competition for Great Britain when Cameron Norrie earned the first point in a tie against Bulgaria. Norrie defeated Kuzmanov in less than 2 hours 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
Bulgaria relies on Grigor Dimitrov who is by far their number 1. However, Dimitrov did not enter the match against Evans ideally when he lost the first set 6-2 in just 35 minutes. But since that moment, it was a one-man show by the 2017 ATP Finals champion.
Dimitrov won the second set 6-4 and dominated the third when he has won it 6-1 to level the score in a tie against Great Britain. And so doubles had to decide. Dimitrov teamed up with Alexander Lazarov as they faced an experienced duo Jamie Murray and Joe Salisbury.
The Bulgarians showed why they qualified for the competition when they fought on the court despite being clear outsiders in doubles. They have won the first set 7-5 in the tie-break, but lost in the second and so it was a super tie-break that decided the whole tie. Dimitrov & Lazarov were already 9-7 down, facing 2 match points, but they managed to win the following 4 points to secure the first point in the Group C for Bulgaria.
[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/B63Qu1_gq5u/[/embed]