Del Potro To Face Dimitrov In Stockholm SFs

Juan Martin del Potro withstood 12 aces from Ivo Karlovic on Friday at the If Stockholm Open to record his 26th match win of a comeback season, 6-3, 6-4 in 71 minutes. Del Potro moves on to face second seed Grigor Dimitrov. “I was expecting a tie-break in this match,” said del Potro. “But I’m happy to get the rest for tomorrow when I play Grigor.”

Del Potro leads Dimitrov 3-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, including a grass-court win at this year’s MercedesCup.

Dimitrov completed his fifth win in seven meetings against Kevin Anderson 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-2 in two hours and 18 minutes. “It’s never easy when you serve for the match and you lose it,” said Dimitrov, who lost four straight games after he served for the match at 5-3 in the second set. “There was some very poor serving form me today, that’s all I can say. I know Kevin was stepping in on pretty much everything, so the match could have gone either way.”

Fourth seed and #NextGen star Alexander Zverev beat qualifier Tobias Kamke 6-3, 7-6(5) in an all-German quarter-final to reach the final four. Kamke served for the second set at 5-4, but his countryman broke back and secured the win on his second match point. Zverev clinched his first ATP World Tour title earlier this month at the St. Petersburg Open (d. Wawrinka).

“It was a tough match, a good win,” said Zverev, a nominee for Most Improved Player of the Year. “Tobias played a very good match and if he keeps playing like this, he will surely return to the Top 100 again.

“The Swedish fans are great. They like to stay up late and come to support us. In Bastad I had a good run a year ago, so I can say that I play well in Sweden.”

The teenager will play an in-form Jack Sock, who faced only two break points in beating Gastao Elias 6-4, 6-4.

“Gastao beat Monfils the other day. He’s very consistent and makes you play a lot of shots. I was lucky to get through in straights,” Sock said. “The court has been playing pretty slow this week, which neutralises the power.”

Pavic/Venus Oust Top Seeds

Mate Pavic and Michael Venus beat top seeds Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares 6-2, 6-4 to move into the doubles final. Soares and regular partner Jamie Murray have already qualified for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, while Pavic/Venus are No. 15 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London and attempting to qualify for the year-end showdown for the first time.