Dimitrov showing why he will never amount to anything special
Up 5-2 in the first set, and whatever it is in his mind that gets in the way of greatness kicked in. Lost 7-6 in a pathetic tiebreak after losing 2 set points in the 12th game.
He will be lucky to get 2 games in the second set, as Matthieu absolutely owns him mentally now.
The thing is, what people don't understand is that when someone is up games in tennis and the pressure is off, it's the perfect time to shift the momentum by putting some scare into them. These are the points that really matter. This is why you see people battling back from down 40-0, pretty soon it's 40-30 and you're on the defensive.
So so so so so so many momentum shifts in tennis, and players like Federer understand these all too well. You don't want to give your opponent even a glimpse at success, you want to keep them feeling hopeless. You just can't let them back in the match.
and if they see themselves getting back into the match you need to nip it in the bud and just understand when to put your full effort into a point and crush your opponent's psyche. Challenger level players and lower level ATP players seem to not understand this and you see crazy games and set shifts because they don't understand when to put full pressure and when they have their opponent kicking themself they can back off and let them implode.