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.
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.
