Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria hits a return to Dudi Sela of Israel during their match at the 2014 U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, August 29, 2014. REUTERS/Adam Hunger
Grigor Dimitrov is the most successful Bulgarian athlete in the current era. He is the only professional tennis player from Bulgaria to have ranked inside the top 10 of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world rankings. In May, Dimtro has been recognised as one of Sport Pro’s most marketable athletes of 2014.He also has Maria Sharapova as her girlfriend. Dimitrov is a rising tennis star. He has made history in the Open by advancing in to the third round of the tournament. In his recent participation in the US Open, he has never made it past the first round. He will face Belgian tennis player David Goffin next. REUTERS

Grigor Dimitrov enters the 2014 China Open as the fifth seed. He advanced into the second round after beating Spain's Fernando Verdasco in two out of three sets.

Playing his first tournament since reaching the Round 16 of the U.S. Open, Dimitrov knocked the Spanish left-hander and former top 10 star Verdasco on the hard courts of the Beijing Olympic Green Tennis Center on Sept. 29, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. The match lasted for an hour and 35 minutes. He scored 11 aces and consistently saved break points, saving seven out of eight break points that he tackled.

Dimitrov has lost against Verdasco twice in the past. He lost to Verdasco in the only official match that they played that was in the semifinals of the tournament in Bastad, Switzerland in 2013. During an exhibition match held in Australian in January 2014, Dimitrov also lost to Verdasco.

Dimitrov's first round victory in China is his 42nd win for the current season, the first time that he had gone past the opener in the said tournament. In 2011, he lost to France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first round. In 2013, he also lost to Roberto Bautista-Agut in straight sets in the Beijing tournament. Dimitrov's next opponent is the winner of the match between Julien Benneatau and Pablo Andujar. He will only face top seed Novak Djokovic if he makes it into the quarterfinals.

Dimitrov is 41-13 this season. He has won three titles in Queen's Club, Bucharest and Acapulco. In other news, Cilic, who won his first Grand Slam at the U.S. Open, also secured a spot in the second round after picking up a straight sets win against 464th-ranked Chinese athlete Yan Bai, 6-3. 6-4. Cilic was a runner up in Beijing in 2009 and 2011.

Canada's Vasek Pospisil also snagged victory over Czech player Lukas Rosol, 6-4, 6-3. Portuguese Joao Sousa and Serbian wild card Victor Troicki were also winners on the first day, beating Russian qualifier Teymuraz Gabashvili and Russia's Mikhail Youhzny, respectively.

Other tennis greats who will play their openers on Sept. 30 include China Open's four-time champion Novak Djokovic, John Isner, Ivo Karlovic and Tomas Berdych.