Stefan Kozlov and Grigor Dimitrov (Credits: Sportsmanor)
The American won 7-6, 5-7, 6-3 in a nail-biting three-setter
Stefan Kozlov is having an unbelievable run at the Mexican Open. In the first qualifying match the World no. 130 defeated much higher ranked Steve Johnson. He lost his final qualifying round match to Germany’s Oscar Otte.
Wait! That’s not the end of the story. Kozlov was having a practice session with Rafael Nadal when he was informed that he has been given an entry into the main draw as one of the “Lucky Losers.” Kozlov rushed midway from practice to play his Round of 32 match against Grigor Dimitrov. He stunned the former World No. 3 and is now poised to potentially face Nadal in Round 2!
Stefan Kozlov won a hard-fought 1st set saving two set points to clinch it in tie-break. In the 2nd set, the American broke Dimitrov’s serve at a crucial stage to make it 5-3. That’s just when the drama began. While Kozlov tried to celebrate the break he immediately felt cramps in both legs and struggled to remain standing. Dimitrov, very sportingly went to the other side of the net to help his opponent. The cramps had their effect on Kozlov and he failed to hold serve and eventually lost the 2nd set.
Just when people thought that was it, Kozlov fought off his physical and mental barriers and mounted an incredible comeback. He stunned the current World No. 25 in the 3rd set and clinched an epic win from the jaws of defeat.
The American was delighted with how things turned out. “Today I was totally expecting not to be playing and now I’ve got the biggest win of my career and will be playing Rafael Nadal in the next round”, he said. An elated Kozlov wrote a message for Nadal before leaving the court. “Rafa sorry for stopping practice today”, Kozlov wrote on the camera.
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