Grigor Dimitrov defeats Dodig as Udomchoke uproots Fognini in Thailand

Grigor Dimitrov took just two sets to beat Dodig as Udomchoke recorded his first ATP match win in four years by defeating Fabio Fognini at the 2011 PTT Thailand Open.

Grigor Dimitrov from Bulgaria has managed to outclass fifth seed and Croat Ivan Dodig 6-2, 7-5 in almost one and a half hour on Monday at the PTT Thailand Open.

Dimitrov, who is fighting to get among the top hundred won 73 per cent of his service points and smacked four aces to race past his 14th victory of the season.

Dimitrov said, "I thought it was a great match today. I'm still overcoming the jetlag, but I hope to do well here as I was really looking forward to playing in Bangkok. It has been a great experience so far. My game is improving, after a couple of rough months, but I am working hard and trying to progress. Today, it all kind of clicked into place."

217th ranked Danai Udomchoke worked through an upset when beat sixth-seeded Italian Fabio Fognini 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. It was the Thai's first ATP World Tour tournament match win in almost four years.

Seventh seeded Robin Haase made a winning start to his debut in Bangkok with a 6-3, 7-6(1) victory over wild card Kittipong Wachiramanowong. He broke serve four times from 11 opportunities and held serves with ease in order to nail the victory in one hour and 13 minutes.

Haase revealed, “I was a break up in the second set and thought I was going to win it easy because I was playing much better than him. But on the big points he played some great shots. I knew that I didn’t need to worry if it got into a tie-break because I knew I had more experience than him and that was the really big advantage for me today.”

Colombian Santiago Giraldo took to his 26th win of the season as he went past Israeli Dudi Sela 6-2, 6-3 in one hour and eight minutes. Giraldo punched through to his first ATP World Tour final earlier in the year in Santiago. He is now scheduled to play second-seeded Gael Monfils from France.