The best Bulgarian tennis player Grigor Dimitrov took another step towards a new title in his career, beating the Swiss Dominique Stricker 6:3, 6:2 in an hour and 10 minutes of play at the tennis tournament in Stockholm on hard courts, BTA reported.
Thus, the Bulgarian qualified for the semi-finals, where he will meet Talon Grikspoor from the Netherlands today.
Dimitrov, who won the Stockholm title in 2013 and was a finalist in 2014 and 2017, saved two break points in the third game of the first set to take a 2-1 lead against the humble Swiss no. 317 in the world ranking. The two were equal until 3:3, and the Bulgarian overcame a critical moment in which he saved a break point, led 4:3, then took the opponent's serve himself and closed the first part at 6:3 in 32 minutes.
Dimitrov started the second set very strongly, taking a 4-0 lead, reeling off two straight wins and taking a total of seven straight games. It was only with this result that Stricker was able to win his serve for 4:1, but then the tennis player born in Haskovo again showed his superiority for 5:1. The Swiss managed to take one more game to the end, but the Bulgarian closed the match on his serve with 6:2.
"A very powerful tennis player, I had never played him. It gave me a hard time in the first few games. I gradually got into the game and found my rhythm. Every year is a lot of fun here. It's important to remember all the good moments over the years in Stockholm," said the Bulgarian after the match, who qualified for his fifth semi-final in Stockholm.
In the dispute for a place in the final, Grigor Dimitrov will play against the Dutchman Talon Grikspoor, who prevailed over Holger Rune from Denmark with 7:5, 7:6 (5). The two have one match against each other, won by Dimitrov in three sets at this year's US Open.
In the other semi-final of the tournament in Stockholm, the American Tommy Paul will play against the Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka. Paul beat Serbian Miomar Kecsmanovic 7:6 (9), 6:2. Wawrinka somewhat surprisingly prevailed over Russian Andrey Rublev 7:6 (5), 7:6 (5).