Solid Dimitrov Beats Lopez In Cincinnati

Grigor Dimitrov recorded his 30th match win of the year on Wednesday for a spot in the Western & Southern Open third round.

The seventh-seeded Bulgarian hit 27 winners to knock out Spain’s Feliciano Lopez 7-6(5), 6-4 in 90 minutes and will now prepare to face Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina. Del Potro has a perfect 5-0 record in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, with their last meeting coming at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in May.

Dimitrov was reliable on serve in the opening set and almost broke Lopez on three occasions, prior to a strong start in the tie-break that he secured on his third set point chance. The 26 year old broke Lopez for a 2-1 lead in the second set and although he could not convert a match point opportunity on the Spaniard’s serve at 3-5, 30/40, in the next game he secured his third win in five meetings. The Bulgarian beat Lopez 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(6) in the Cincinnati second round last year.

Dimitrov got off to a strong start to the year going 16-1 with two ATP World Tour titles in Brisbane (d. Nishikori) and Sofia (d. Goffin). He is now 30-14 overall and will be hoping to better last year’s run to the Cincinnati semi-finals (l. to Cilic). Currently at No. 9 in the Emirates ATP Race To London, Dimitrov is hoping to qualify for the first time to the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 12-19 November.

Del Potro, the 2012 and 2013 semi-finalist, broke serve at the end of both sets to defeat American qualifier Mitchell Kruger 6-4, 6-4 in a hard-fought encounter over one hour and 40 minutes. Del Potro, appearing at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament for the first time since 2013, saved five break points at 3-3 in second set and clinched his 18th victory of the year on his fourth match point opportunity.

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