TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open 2016: Grigor Dimitrov vs. Diego Schwartzman Score

Diego Schwartzman won the first major title of his career on Sunday, beating Grigor Dimitrov 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4), 6-0 in the final of the 2016 TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open.   

The two served up a sloppy but entertaining contest that features plenty of breaks and drama, but an injury to Dimitrov took the sting out of the final set.

Dimitrov was the clear favourite to win the title entering the final, but in clay-specialist Schwartzman, he took on a dangerous and underrated opponent. ESPN’s Brad Gilbert is a fan of the Argentinian:

Neither player looked particularly dominant in the first set, however. Dimitrov double-faulted twice and gave up eight break chances, while Schwartzman fared little better with seven. With eight breaks in total, including seven in a row, the opening set became something of a comedy of errors.

Dimitrov had the upper hand from the baseline, but for some reason, he refused to put depth into his first serve. Gilbert couldn’t understand why:

In the tiebreak, Dimitrov cleaned up his play and dominated the rallies, playing several excellent passing shots to grab the advantage.

The 24-year-old changed tactics to start the second set, playing more aggressive tennis and using his raw power to push his smaller opponent behind the baseline. It worked initially, as he broke Schwartzman's serve twice and found more success with his second serve, running out to a quick 5-2 lead.

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But just as he seemed on the verge of clinching this year's Istanbul Open, his serve fell apart again, and with Schwartzman taking more risks, the set turned completely. The 23-year-old held serve to stay in the match, broke twice and found himself serving to tie things up after little over two hours.

Dimitrov broke serve to force another tiebreak, despite struggling with what appeared to be an injury to his left leg. Schwartzman proved the better man in the second tiebreak, forcing a decider.

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While the first two sets had been exciting and entertaining, the third set quickly became farcical. Dimitrov still seemed to be limping, but his frustration took over, as he smashed up no less than three rackets.

The second smashed racket came at deuce when down 4-0, which handed Schwartzman the game.

Tennis writer Jake Davies thought the defeat was a major setback for Dimitrov:

Dimitrov is still without a major ATP title for the 2016 campaign, and people will talk about his meltdown in Istanbul for weeks to come. It won't do much for his momentum, but his image might take an even bigger hit, as the scenes in the third set got ugly at times as Deadspin showed:

For Schwartzman, this is the biggest win of his career and a superb warm-up for the French Open, the highlight of the clay season.