Grigor Dimitrov and Dominic Thiem both had to come from a set down to win their second-round matches at the Monte Carlo Masters on Tuesday. The fourth-seeded Dimitrov rallied to beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, while the fifth-seeded Thiem saved a match point in his 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 win against Andrey Rublev of Russia.
Dimitrov looked out of sorts in the first set, dropping his serve twice against the 82nd-ranked Herbert. Serving at 5-3 and 15-40 down, he mistimed a forehand and the ball went off the racket frame and into the crowd.
But the Bulgarian found his range in the second set, securing consecutive breaks on the Frenchman's serve before serving it out at love.
Dimitrov broke Herbert in the fifth game of the decider, then immediately dropped serve with another wild forehand before breaking the Frenchman again for 4-3. He sealed the victory on his first match point when he whipped a powerful forehand to the back of the court, which Herbert returned long.
"I was just a little bit rusty, I haven't played a match for almost three weeks," Dimitrov said. "All I (could) do was just fight and win. How doesn't really matter."
Earlier, Thiem saved a match point when Rublev served at 5-4, 40-30 but hit a forehand narrowly wide.
Thiem made the most of the reprieve, breaking him with backhand pass down the line and holding for 6-5.
The Austrian was 15-40 up on Rublev's serve and also converted his first match point, when Rublev double-faulted with a weak serve into the net.
"I was 10 centimeters from being out of the tournament," a relieved Thiem said. "But I'm happy that I played two hours and 40 (minutes)."
Thiem has reached the French Open semifinals for the past two years. He next meets 12-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic or Borna Coric of Croatia, who play their second-round match on Wednesday.
"I'm looking forward to watching Djokovic and Coric in front of the TV, and then playing the winner on Thursday," Thiem said.
Later, third-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany faced Gilles Muller, and No. 6 David Goffin of Belgium played qualifier Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Zverev's older brother, Mischa Zverev reached the third round by beating No. 7 Lucas Pouille 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3).
