Wimbledon: Casper Ruud And Grigor Dimitrov Break Into 2nd Round

In the first round of Wimbledon, Casper Ruud defeated Alex Bolt in straight sets, winning the first after a near-flawless tiebreak. Ruud broke the Australian’s serve three times in the match to win 7-6, 6-4, 6-4. 

After the match, the Norwegian talked about his recovery after the gastrointestinal illness he had that made him drop out at the beginning of the grass-court season. He had sustained the illness before his semifinal clash with Alexander Zverev. 

“I went home the day after and kept feeling quite bad for a full week and decided to take a few tests after a week of almost, like, lying in bed all the time. I had no appetite, and I was still bothered.”

After tests, it was discovered that an uncommon parasite had infected Casper Ruud. However, the source of the infection was unknown, although the world No. 8 speculated that the most likely source would’ve been water. 

“It was still a good run for me in Paris. Just a bit unfortunate that I started feeling it there and that I wasn’t able to play any golf for the days to follow.”

Casper Ruud’s first-round win over Alex Bolt sets up a clash with world No. 94, Fabio Fognini in Wimbledon’s second round. This would be the fourth clash between the two of them with the Norwegian winning all the previous three. 

Dimitrov’s Wimbledon Starts With A Win

Grigor Dimitrov defeated the third-highest-ranked Serbian on the tour, Dusan Lajovic, in the first round of Wimbledon today. Grigor Dimitrov continued his fine 2024 season with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 win. He’ll take on Juncheng Shang in the Wimbledon second round. Shang defeated Cristian Garin 7-5 6-5 6-4 in their first round Wimbledon clash. 

The highest finish Grigor Dimitrov has gotten in Wimbledon was the 2014 semifinal where he was defeated by the eventual winner, Novak Djokovic. The Bulgarian’s 2024 has been one to remember, winning the Brisbane International in January, his first title since the ATP Finals of November 2017.

At the French Open, Dimitrov made it to the quarterfinals before losing in straight sets to Jannik Sinner 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (3). But there’s no shame in losing to the third-ranked player in the world. Dimitrov, also known as “Baby Fed” because of his smooth technique and one-handed backhand, is 29-10 in 2024 and won the Brisbane tournament in Australia.

Talking about his performance improvement, the 33-year-old Bulgarian said:

“It’s not a coincidence. I’ve been there before. You put in a lot of work throughout the years. You just never know when you might harvest your work. I’m very grateful for where I’m at right now.”

“I’m cherishing every single match I get out there, whether I’m winning or losing. Losing hurts way more than it used to 10 years ago. So I don’t wanna lose. Fighting as much as I can. Doing everything the best I possibly can. I have zero regrets.”