Grigor Dimitrov advanced to the round of 16 at the Madrid Masters after securing a straight-sets win over Britain’s Jacob Fearnley, defeating him 6:4, 7:6(3). The Bulgarian, currently the only representative of his country at the elite tennis level, clinched the victory after winning the second set tiebreak.

The match had been interrupted at 6:4, 5:4 in Dimitrov’s favor due to a major power outage that impacted parts of Spain, Portugal, Andorra, Germany, Belgium, and southern France. Although Dimitrov had the opportunity to finish the match earlier, missing a match point at 5:2 and being broken while serving for the win at 5:4, he regained composure in the tiebreak and finished the job efficiently.

With this result, Dimitrov became the first ATP player in 2025 to reach the round of 16 in any tournament on the tour. He also reached 10 wins at the Masters level this season earlier than any other player, having notched that milestone with his first-round victory over Nicolas Jarry in Madrid.

Dimitrov’s next opponent will be decided between Cameron Norrie and Gabriel Diallo.

During the closing stages of the match, Dimitrov and Fearnley exchanged strong shots, but Dimitrov showed resilience under pressure. In one game, Dimitrov held serve to love, sealing it with a pair of aces and a clean winner. Later, he applied pressure on Fearnley’s serve and reached match point for a second time after an impressive forehand combination, though a mishit from the frame of his racket squandered the opportunity. Fearnley saved himself again with an ace and took the second set to a tiebreak.

The tiebreak began with a mini break for Fearnley, but Dimitrov quickly responded. The two traded errors before Dimitrov tightened his game. He forced mistakes on Fearnley’s forehand, recorded a crucial mini break, and followed up with an ace that gave him triple match point. A final unforced error from the Briton wrapped up the encounter 6:4, 7:6(3), nearly 29 hours after Dimitrov first held a match point.