Bulgaria needed until 2:46am Saturday morning to secure their first tie victory of the ATP Cup, surprising Great Britain in a thriller. But there was no such drama on Sunday, with the team cruising past Moldova.
Grigor Dimitrov beat Radu Albot 6-2, 6-3 in 83 minutes to seal his country's victory, which was ultimately by a 2-1 margin.
"I just had to build up the team a little bit for today, and after that it was just all about the game," Dimitrov said. "I think Dimitar did a great job this morning. Obviously it was a good match on his end. And then I had to make sure I stayed strong throughout the whole match today. That was good."
The former World No. 3, who won the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals, showed no fatigue after playing a total of six sets in singles and doubles against Great Britain, on top of serving in his role as Bulgarian captain. Dimitrov broke the Moldovan four times, winning 86 per cent of his first-serve points to put the tie out of reach.
In the second set, Albot, the 2019 Delray Beach titlist, fought back from a break down to put pressure on Dimitrov. But the World No. 20 had the match on his racquet and did not panic, defeating Albot in their first ATP Head2Head meeting.
Highlights: Dimitrov Downs Albot In Sydney
"Coming into this thing, I knew that if we come together, we have a great opportunity. I know I have to not only believe in myself now, but I need to believe in the players that are with me," Dimitrov said. "My only goal was, and I'm honest on that, was just to put them together, to make sure we practise together, to make sure they learn something from me, to make sure they are surrounded by the top players. That was my main goal."