Grigor Dimitrov has reached his first Masters 1000 semifinal since the 2014 Rogers Cup after beating Steve Johnson 7-6 (10-8) 6-2 at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati.
Johnson led 2-1 in their previous head-to-head matches and won their previous clash at Wimbledon this summer in four sets (6-7 7-6 6-4 6-3).
Both players held their service games to force the first set to the tie-break. Dimitrov failed to convert on set points at 6-5 and 7-6 but saved a set point at 8-7. The Bulgarian won the final three points to clinch the tie-break 10-8.
Dimitrov got a double break in the first and fifth games to race out to a 4-1 lead and closed out on his first match point.
“As soon as I came out to play that second set, I felt a little bit more relaxed and a little bit more confident,” said Dimitrov. “I was looking more for his serve and waiting in a different spot, so that helped a lot.”
Dimitrov has recently returned to his best form, having reached his second consecutive quarter final this summer after the Rogers Cup in Toronto. Dimitrov will return to the top 30 next week. He will face the winner of the quarter final between Croatian players Borna Coric and Marin Cilic.
Raonic Marches On
Milos Raonic experienced little difficulty during his 6-3, 6-4, win against Austria’s Dominic Thiem. The fourth seed dropped just eight point on his serve and produced 17 aces to close in on his maiden Masters 1000 title. A run to the final this week will seal the Canadian a crucial top four seeding at the upcoming US Open, which begins at the end of this month.
The Raonic-Thiem stats from their Cincy quarter-final. #ATP pic.twitter.com/sQ9oINKgxY
— TennisTV (@TennisTV) 19 August 2016
In the last four Raonic will play either Olympic champion Andy Murray or Australia’s Bernard Tomic.
