Alexander Zverev has prevailed over Grigor Dimitrov in the semi-final of the Chengdu Open with his first straight-sets victory of the tournament, 6-3, 7-6 (2).

The first and third seeds battled it out at the Sichuan International Tennis Center for a place in the final of the ATP 250 event. Zverev had a lot of reason to be confident against his opponent heading into the match, as his head-to-head with Dimitrov was an impressive 6-1 and the Bulgarian player had failed to win a match against him in almost ten years.

Nevertheless, Dimitrov looked solid for the most part and had a cleaner record at the tournament, having defeated his previous opponents in straight sets while Zverev had been taken to three against both Pavel Kotov and Miomir Kecmanovic.

Read also

McEnroe disappointed with availibility Top Stars for Laver Cup

Zverev takes first set with ease but second set was a challenge

The World No. 10 took the first set with relative ease, breaking Dimitrov in the very first game of the match. Zverev then got a double break point at 4-2 but Dimitrov fought back to take it to a deuce. The players went back and forth for a while before a loose forehand from the 32-year-old gave Zverev the advantage.

However, a couple of unforced errors from Zverev gave Dimitrov the advantage back and saw him hold his serve. The 26-year-old did not let this deter him though, and he fought hard in Dimitrov's next service game to secure the double break and the set 6-3 after his opponent hit the ball into the net.

In the second set, Zverev faced more difficulty from Dimitrov as the players both held their nerve and stayed even. Zverev saved several break points, including hitting two aces in a row to give himself the advantage in his second service game.

Read also

More popcorn anyone? Williams on Halep, Cirstea on Serena, and now journalist Mat Dowell is having a go at Cirstea

Ultimately, though, Zverev was able to overcome Dimitrov for the seventh time in his career after the second set went to a tiebreak in just under an hour of play. The German secured himself four match points at 6-2 but only needed one of them as Dimitrov hit the ball into the net.

This will be Zverev's 32nd final on the ATP Tour. He will face unseeded player Roman Safiullin for the title at the Chengdu Open.

Yin Nooy 🎾RN🐐

@YinNooy

·Follow

Chengdu Open 2023 Zverev def Dimitrov 63 76(2) in Semi-final Zverev vs Safiullin in Final tomorrow 7:30pm local time

2

Reply

Copy link

Read more on Twitter