Top-seeded Grigor Dimitrov moved closer to securing his first appearance in the Nitto ATP Finals with a tightly contested victory over qualifier Jerzy Janowicz, 7-5, 7-6(5) in the second round of the Intrum Stockholm Open on Thursday. The 2013 champion struck nine aces and dropped just five points on his first serve to triumph and begin his campaign toward another title in Sweden.

“I knew it was going to come down to a few points in the first or the second set,” said Dimitrov, who entered the match holding a 2-2 record in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Janowicz. “He’s a super-talented player, especially indoors. He served unbelievable, so I was struggling quite a bit to find my way around the return area but each game I just really had to stay positive, stay pumped and I just really had to focus on my game because I couldn’t afford myself to be negative or to have a loose point.”

Dimitrov, this year’s Brisbane, Sofia and Cincinnati winner, currently sits at No. 6 in the Emirates ATP Race To London with 3,455 points and is second in line to qualify for the year-end event behind No. 5 Marin Cilic, who has 3,535 points. The 26-year-old is attempting to win four titles in a season for the first time in his career. He is the highest-ranked player in the Race yet to qualify for London who is in action this week.

While the scoreline indicates that there was little between the two opponents, Dimitrov controlled play in the first set, dropping only three points on his serve until breaking to win the opener, never allowing the Pole to dictate play in return games. The second set was more tense, with Janowicz consistently forcing return errors, facing only one break point in the set. However, he earned his only two break points of the match at 1-1, and was unable to convert. Dimitrov trailed just once in the tie-break at 1-2, and would go on to capitalise on his third match point.

He will have a different style of opponent in the quarter-finals in serve and volleying left-hander Mischa Zverev, the fifth seed. The German eliminated Viktor Troicki, 6-2, 6-3 in 68 minutes.

Another player seeking a London bid is Juan Martin del Potro, who strengthened his outside hopes with a 6-2, 7-6(5) victory over Jan-Lennard Struff in the last match of the day.

The defending champion entered the week No. 18 in the Race with 1,885 points, but his victory moved him to No. 16 with 1,930 points as he continued a late-season charge in which del Potro has advanced to the semi-finals of both the US Open and the Shanghai Rolex Masters. He is in pursuit of his first title of the season, and his 20th overall.

The Argentine will next face seventh seed Yuichi Sugita, who battled past 2009 champion Marcos Baghdatis, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

With del Potro’s win, the top eight seeds advanced to the quarter-finals of an ATP World Tour event for the first time since the 2016 Garanti Koza Sofia Open. 

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Karen Khachanov will compete at the Next Gen ATP Finals next month, joining fellow Russian Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev of Germany at the inaugural event, to be held 7-11 November in Milan. Khachanov qualified based on results at ATP World Tour 250 events on Thursday.

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The 20-year-old Moscow native has received rave reviews from the tennis world this year, his second season on the ATP World Tour. The 6’6” right-hander has reminded longtime tennis fans and pundits of another big-hitting and quick-moving Russian, 6’4” Marat Safin, who reached No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and won 15 tour-level titles before retiring in November 2009.

Khachanov celebrated his first ATP World Tour title more than a year ago, at the Chengdu Open in China. He backed up his maiden crown this season, reaching four quarter-finals – Barcelona, Lyon, Bastad and Hamburg – and the semi-finals at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle (l. to Federer). Khachanov also performed well on the game’s biggest stages, reaching the fourth round at Roland Garros and the third round at Wimbledon. He also made the third round at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Cincinnati in August (l. to Sugita).

With Khachanov, Rublev and Zverev qualified, four qualification spots now remain in the eight-player Next Gen ATP Finals. Seven of the eight spots will be determined by the Emirates ATP Race To Milan, which ends on 30 October. The eighth spot will be given to the winner of an Italian 21-and-under tournament.

South African Kevin Anderson stepped up his bid on Thursday for one of the four remaining places at the Nitto ATP Finals when he knocked out #NextGenATP South Korean Hyeon Chung 6-3, 6-2 for a place in the Intrum Stockholm Open quarter-finals. The second seed struck 18 aces and won 28 of his 32 first-service points to improve to a 32-18 mark on the season.

“In the beginning I felt I was hitting the ball great and I was creating opportunities,” said Anderson. “He was hanging in there and it took me quite a few attempts to break serve. He defends so well and is a great athlete, so for me to come off the court with that scoreline feels good.” He will next face Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.

Anderson, this year’s US Open and Citi Open finalist, is at No. 12 in the Emirates ATP Race To London with 2,450 points — 155 points behind ninth-placed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, who sits in the final qualification berth for the season finale, to be held at The O2 in London from 12-19 November. Chung is No. 8 in Emirates ATP Race To Milan for a spot at next month’s inaugural 21-and-under Next Gen ATP Finals with 760 points, having been overtaken by Russian Daniil Medvedev (772 points) who won today at the VTB Kremlin Cup. Medvedev knocked out Carreno Busta in Moscow.

Fifth-seeded German wild card Mischa Zverev will take on top seed and 2013 champion Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria or Polish qualifier Jerzy Janowicz after he moved past Viktor Troicki 6-2, 6-3.

Elsewhere, seventh-seeded Japanese Yuichi Sugita recorded his 22nd match win of a career-best season by knocking out 2009 champion Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in one hour and 49 minutes. The Antalya Open titlist will now face fourth seed and defending champion Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina or Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff on Friday.

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The 2017 BNP Paribas Open, the largest ATP World Tour and WTA combined two-week event in the world, held at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden this past March, generated an estimated total gross economic impact on the Coachella Valley regional economy of $406,602,107.

This represents an increase of more than $32 million since 2014, when the last BNP Paribas Open economic impact study was conducted and the estimated total gross economic impact was $373 million. Since a 2006 study, there has been an increase of more than $187 million in economic impact.

“The positive impact of the BNP Paribas Open on the city of Indian Wells and the entire region continues to grow each year, bringing not only economic but also cultural and social benefits to our residents, visitors and guests,” said Richard Balocco, the mayor of the City of Indian Wells. “We look forward to working together with the tournament for years to come to continue showcasing all that Indian Wells has to offer and providing a top-notch experience for all tournament patrons.”

Total gross economic impact is derived by calculating the direct ($262,323,940) and indirect and induced ($144,278,167) economic impacts and then adding them together to show the incremental spending above and beyond what would have been expected had the BNP Paribas Open not been held in the area. Direct spending includes money spent by out-of-town visitors, vendors, sponsors, and the tournament organization to a business in the region. Indirect and induced impact is the re-spending of this money by the regional businesses in the regional economy.

The tournament also studied the impact that the renovations to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden had on the 2017 tournament, and when this is factored into the equation, the gross economic impact rose to $466,943,364. Based on the total direct economic impact, the full-time equivalents of those employed by the event is estimated at 5,015 and 5,759 when considering the facility construction as well.

A total of 439,261 fans attended the tournament over the two-week period earlier this year. On average each person attended the tournament 3.09 days. An impressive 87 percent of all unique spectators traveled from outside the region equating to 123,675 out-of-town visitors from which the economic impact is calculated.

The total fiscal impact of the BNP Paribas Open on the Coachella Valley was estimated at just over $19,000,000, generated through tax revenues for city and county governments in the form of sales tax, Transient Occupancy Tax and property tax.

“The BNP Paribas Open consistently attracts record-breaking numbers of visitors from all over the country and the world who come to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden to experience the best in not only tennis, but also dining and entertainment,” said Piero Pierattoni, the owner of Piero’s PizzaVino and Mamma Gina. “We’re thrilled to deliver on those expectations year-after-year, and look forward to the continued mutual growth and success.”

The study, conducted by The George Washington University, uses estimates for direct and indirect impact that are based on industry standard methodology, visitor survey results, and the data provided by the organizers and sponsors.