ATP

Dimitrov rallies into Indian Wells semis with milestone win

By Sports Desk October 14, 2021

Grigor Dimitrov continued his red-hot form with a hard-fought victory over Hubert Hurkacz at the Indian Wells Masters, where Cameron Norrie awaits in the semi-finals.

After conquering top seed Daniil Medvedev, former world number three Dimitrov recovered from a set down to upstage eighth seed Hurkacz on Thursday.

Norrie shocked 11th seed Diego Schwartzman in straight sets at the ATP 1000 tournament.

 

DIMITROV CELEBRATES MILESTONE

Bulgarian star and 23rd seed Dimitrov reached his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final of the season with a 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7-2).

Dimitrov showed he is the comeback king once again, having also saved two break points at 3-3 in the second set.

A semi-finalist at the US Open (2019), Australian Open (2017) and Wimbledon (2014), Dimitrov then squandered a 5-2 lead in the deciding set before eventually prevailing in a tie-break for his 100th Masters 1000 victory.

 

NORRIE BOOSTS TURIN BID

Norrie's hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals in Turin received a boost after breezing past Schwartzman 6-0 6-2.

Amid a career-best season, Norrie advanced to his maiden ATP Masters 1000 semi-final, with the 26-year-old to replace Daniel Evans as the new British men's number one.

Seeded 21st, Norrie – who has 45 Tour-level wins in 2021 – now has next month's Finals firmly in sight, having started the day 945 points behind ninth-placed Hurkacz in the race to Turin.

"I have been pretty consistent this year," Norrie said after 74 minutes on court. "I think I am really doing the fundamentals well on serve and return and playing the big points better.

"I have been a little more aggressive and feel I am learning more as I go along and becoming more experienced. We are really happy."

Related items

  • Swiatek opens Olympic bid with straight-sets win over Begu Swiatek opens Olympic bid with straight-sets win over Begu

    Iga Swiatek got her bid for Olympic gold up and running with a straight-sets victory over Irina-Camelia Begu in Paris.

    The world number one is the firm favourite to win gold at Roland-Garros, where she has won four editions of the French Open, including the last three in a row.

    Swiatek and Begu traded breaks at the outset of their clash on Court Philippe-Chatrier, but the Pole continued to put her opponent under pressure when receiving and back-to-back breaks took the opener away from Begu.

    The second set was more of a slog for Swiatek and a break in the seventh game had Begu serving to level things up, but Swiatek found a second wind to break back and only dropped one further point from there, winning 6-2 7-5.

    Swiatek will face Argentina's Nadia Podoroska or home favourite Diane Parry in the second round, with the likes of Danielle Collins, Jessica Pegula, Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber also on her side of the draw.

    On the other side of the bracket, Jasmine Paolini – the runner-up at both the French Open and Wimbledon this year – advanced with a 7-5 6-3 win over Ana Bogdan. 

    Data Debrief: Twenty-two and counting for Swiatek

    Swiatek has now won a remarkable 22 successive matches on the courts of Roland-Garros, last losing at the venue to Maria Sakkari in the 2021 French Open quarter-finals.

    In all clay-court tournaments, she has won her last 20 matches, also capturing titles in Madrid and Rome earlier this year.

  • Djokovic thrilled by prospect of 'one last dance' with Nadal Djokovic thrilled by prospect of 'one last dance' with Nadal

    Novak Djokovic is thrilled by the prospect of meeting Rafael Nadal for "one last dance" at the Paris Olympics, if the Spaniard overcomes an injury setback to feature at Roland-Garros.

    Thursday's men's singles draw saw Djokovic paired with Australia's Matthew Ebden in the first round, with Nadal taking on Marton Fucsovics.

    The legendary duo – who have won 46 grand slam singles titles between them – will meet in the second round if they both advance through their openers this weekend.

    Djokovic and Nadal have previously faced off on 59 occasions, with the Serbian winning 30 of those contests but losing four of the last six, the most recent being a Nadal victory in four sets in the 2022 French Open quarter-finals.

    Nadal's participation at the Games was thrown into doubt when his coach Carlos Moya said he had suffered a "setback" on Thursday and required 48 hours of rest.

    If Nadal – who is widely expected to retire later this year – does make the tournament, Djokovic is looking forward to the prospect of facing him for a 60th time.

    "Obviously he hasn't played much. His ranking dropped, so there was always going to be that possibility of me meeting him in an early round and there we go," Djokovic said.

    "It's going to be a spectacle, definitely, if we get to meet. We will spread some fireworks on the court, like the good old times. 

    "I hope we get to meet because it will probably be one last dance for the both of us."

    Djokovic is set to appear at his fifth Olympics in the French capital, the joint-most by any male player since the sport returned to the Games in 1988 (with Yen Hsun Lu).

    He is the player with the most matches played (19) and joint-most matches won (13, level with Roger Federer) at the Olympics since 1988.

    However, his best result at the Games remains a Bronze medal at Beijing 2008, when he was beaten by eventual gold medallist Nadal in the semi-finals.

    Djokovic lost the bronze medal match to Pablo Carreno Busta at the delayed Tokyo Games three years ago, also losing to Juan Martin del Potro at both London 2012 and Rio 2016.

  • Linette dominates first all-Polish WTA final to win Prague Open Linette dominates first all-Polish WTA final to win Prague Open

    Magda Linette rounded off her Olympic preparations in style as she claimed her third WTA title with a comfortable win over Magdalena Frech at the Prague Open. 

    Linette, who beat Viktoriya Tomova and Linda Noskova on her way to the final, won in straight sets 6-2 6-1 as she now heads to Paris to face Mirra Andreeva. 

    The world number 41 was in the ascendency from the off, forcing a break in the fourth game and never looking back. 

    Despite the best efforts of Frech, who saved one set point, Linette continued to apply the pressure and another break put her a set up.

    Linette would again break in the fourth game of the second set, winning three games on the bounce to secure her first career win over her compatriot. 

    Data Debrief: Linette prevails in first all-Polish affair

    The final in Prague between Linette and Frech was the first all-Polish WTA level final in the Open Era. 

    Linette's triumph over her opponent was her first, having lost in the pair's previous encounter in Saint-Malo back in 2022. 

    During the contest, the world number 41 gave nothing away, saving all four of the break points she faced while converting three of the seven she had against Frech. 

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.