US Open: Dimitrov beats Johnson, takes revenge for Wimbledon ouster

Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria exacted revenge for his loss to Steve Johnson at Wimbledon by beating the American player in straight sets in the U.S Open men's singles first round here on Tuesday.

The Bulgarian started and finished with a flourish and was barely troubled by the American to start Day 2 at the US Open, as Dimitrov came through with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Johnson to advance to the second round.

At 5-3 in the first set, the No. 17 seed Dimitrov punctuated the final service game with three consecutive aces to close it out, and he did not face a break point on his serve throughout the contest that lasted just 94 minutes.

Dimitrov, whose last Grand Slam singles match was also against Johnson, but after winning the first set, the Bulgarian suffered a thigh injury that eventually forced him to retire, 6-4, 2-5. got a second chance before the end of 2022 to finish a Grand Slam match against Steve Johnson on his terms and did that in style on Tuesday.

Dimitrov is looking to recapture the form that produced some eye-opening results earlier this year. In March, Dimitrov reached the quarterfinals on the hard courts of Indian Wells and, in April, made it to the semifinals on the clay at Monte Carlo.

Dimitrov has yet to reach the second week of a major this year, as his third-round appearance at Roland Garros is the furthest he has advanced at a Grand Slam in 2022.