Third seed Grigor Dimitrov rallied from a set and a break down to reach the Chengdu Open semi-finals on Friday, battling past Diego Schwartzman 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in just over two hours.
Since the Rogers Cup in Toronto, where he joined forces with coach, Dani Vallverdu, Dimitrov has gone 11-4 on the ATP World Tour, enjoying a resurgence in form that has seen him reach the semi-finals in Cincinnati (l. to Cilic) and the fourth round of the US Open (l. to Murray).
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Dimitrov, who clinched his 200th tour-level win on Wednesday, will now look to reach his third ATP World Tour final of the season, but it was not without a fight that he got by Schwartzman.
The Bulgarian was in trouble as he trailed by a set and 3-1 in the second set, but broke back in the eighth game before breaking again in the 10th game to force a decider. After relinquishing an early service break in the third set, Dimitrov broke decisively in the fourth game and went on to seal victory.
"He played really well at the beginning of the match," said Dimitrov. "Whatever I was trying was not working. I tried to overpower him a little bit. He's the type of player who will not give you anything for free. I had to fight and find a new way to rattle him. I think after that break, at 4-3 in the second set, the momentum start to shift a bit.
"I knew that I need to keep my composure and stay calm. I played a pretty loose game in the third set. I shouldn't do that. If it's against any better player, for sure I would have suffered. Right now I am just very happy to make it to the semi-finals."
For a place in the final of this inaugural ATP World Tour 250 tournament, Dimitrov will face fifth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who ousted top seed Dominic Thiem 6-1, 6-4 in just under one hour.
Ramos-Vinolas claimed the third Top 10 win of his career (3-24 record) as he broke World No. 10 Thiem three times and won 78 per cent of his service points.
The Spaniard is through to his third ATP World Tour semi-final of the season. He lifted his maiden ATP World Tour trophy in an all-Spanish final in Bastad (d. Verdasco), but if he is to reach his third final (also Casablanca 2012), he will need to overturn a 0-2 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Dimitrov.
After a career-best season, Thiem is on course to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for the first time, currently seventh in the Emirates ATP Race To London. A four-time winner on the ATP World Tour this season, the 23-year-old Austrian next competes in Beijing.