Bulgaria’s top-ranked male tennis player Grigor Dimitrov was just two points away from winning against world number eight, Frenchman Gilles Simon, in the first round of the Open13 tennis tournament in Marseilles on February 17 2009.

In the last match of the day, Dimitrov, who is world number 401, faced home favourite and second seed Simon, a winner in Marseilles in 2007. To the astonishment of the home crowd who had come to watch their favourite advance to the second stage, Dimitrov made Simon earn his victory.

Simon won the first set 6-4, with Dimitrov fighting back to take the second 6-3. It was his quick movement on the court, and the soft, often brilliant returns, that made Dimitrov look not just an equal to the world number eight, but superior at times.

The 17-year-old Bulgarian, who was awarded a wild card for the tourney, showed a good physical condition against one of the most fit and light players on the ATP Tour, chasing every ball to the limit.

In the third set Dimitrov made the crowd hold its breath after he managed to break Simon's serve and take a 5-3 lead. Serving for the match, Dimitrov's desire to end matters quickly proved his downfall, as Simon's experience came to his rescue. After playing a few superb balls, Simon managed to get back into the set and win it 7-5.

At the end of the match, Dimitrov, who won the junior titles both at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2007, got the same warm of applause he got in Rotterdam after his loss to  world number one Rafael Nadal (7-5, 3-6, 6-2) on February 12 2009.

In back-to-back weeks, the Bulgarian teenager took on two top ten players and his performances in each defeat has made both fans and critics sit up and take notice of the rising star. He also won against world number 23 Tomas Berdych in Rotterdam.

Dimitrov will play in another tournament in France on the hard-surface at Besancon, which is part of the ATP Challenger Series. Like in Rotterdam and Marseilles, Dimitrov was handed a wild card for the February 23-March 1 tournament.