Dominic Thiem wins in Austria, Grigor Dimitrov victorious in Washington, Heather Watson knocked out in Prague

Grigor Dimitrov reached the last-16 stage of the Washington Open as he defeated Mackenzie McDonald 7-6(8-6) 6-2, while Dominic Thiem won in Austria.

The 32-year-old Bulgiarian is seeded No. 5 for the tournament on hard courts as he prepares to compete in the year’s final Grand Slam, the US Open in New York, later this year.

Dimitrov has left the tournament in New York at the second round stage in each of his last three appearances, but he reached the final of the Geneva Open in May to suggest that he is approaching better form as he looks to improve on his world No. 20 ranking.

McDonald had the support of the home crowd but the 28-year-old American fell away in the second set against his more accomplished opponent.

Thiem won at the Austria Open as he battled past Argentina’s Facundo Bagnis.

The Austrian is still battling for form and fitness and he needed tie breaks in both sets to win 7-6(3) 7-6(6) to reach the next round.

Laslo Djere proceeded to the last 16 in Kitzbuhel with a well-earned victory over Australia’s Christopher O’Connell.

The Serbian, seeded No. 5 in Austria, won the first set 6-4 as he broke his opponent twice over the course of the match, needing a tie-break to win 7-6(4) in the decisive second set.

Daniel Altmaier pulled off a comeback win on the clay against Switzerland’s Marc-Andrea Huseler. The German fell behind 7-6(5) in the first set, but rallied when he converted each of his four breakpoints to win 6-2 6-4 to secure passage to the next round.

Britain’s Heather Watson was knocked out in the round of 32 at the Prague Open up against Jule Niemeier from Germany.

Niemeier had little trouble in a 6-2 6-3 win as Watson continued to struggle to find her best form this season.