Beijing, Oct 3 (IANS): Third-seeded Grigor Dimitrov from Bulgaria crashed out of the China Open on Wednesday after losing to Serbia's Dusan Lajovic 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
Dimitrov's shock exit came in one hour and 53 minutes at the hands of an opponent who has yet to win a career title, reports Efe news.
Dimitrov started off poorly, losing his first game, handing the advantage to Lajovic, who went on to clinch the set 6-4.
The Bulgarian bounced back in the second to extend the game into the third set, where he once again lost his serve on his way to crashing out of the tournament.
In their only previous meeting, at Chengdu (central China) on hard court, the 27-year-old Dimitrov had comprehensively defeated Lajovic, 28, in straight sets.
Lajovic moves into the quarter finals, where he will face the winner of the match between Britisher Kyle Edmund (seeded fifth) and Italy's Matteo Berrettini.