Tommy Robredo stated his intention of another title-winning run in Marrakech on Thursday as he ousted top seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals of the Grand Prix Hassan II.
The Spaniard has an 11-1 record at this ATP World Tour 250 clay-court tournament, winning the title in 2013 (d. Anderson) and reaching the final in 2011 (l. to Canas) when it was held in Casablanca. His victory over Dimitrov marked his first Top 20 win since beating No. 11 Dimitrov in the third round at Indian Wells in 2015.
The 34-year-old Robredo extended his FedEx ATP Head2Head series lead over Dimitrov to 3-1 as he defeated the Bulgarian in one hour and 49 minutes. It was Dimitrov’s debut in Marrakech, but the right-hander, who is fourth in the Emirates ATP Race To London, was broken three times in defeat.
"Grigor is a great player," said Robredo. "I’m very happy with my victory today. I played a great first set, but then got broken quickly in the second even though I was up 40/0 in the first game. I’m glad I managed to bounce back in the third set. I really like Marrakech. I came here for a holiday last year and now I’m back playing the tournament."
After an explosive start to the season, which saw him win titles in Brisbane and Sofia and reach the Australian Open semi-finals, Dimitrov has gone 3-4 in his past four tournaments. The 25 year old, who is hoping to qualify for the ATP Finals in London for the first time this year, will look to bounce back at next week’s Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters.
Robredo is searching for his first ATP World Tour title in what has been an injury-hit four years and goes on to face France’s Benoit Paire. The sixth-seeded Paire, who was runner-up at an ATP Challenger Tour event in France last week, defeated Radu Albot 6-2, 6-2.
Third seed Philipp Kohlschreiber battled past Jeremy Chardy 6-0, 2-6, 6-3 in one hour and 36 minutes. Kohlschreiber set an all-German quarter-final clash with World No. 59 Jan-Lennard Struff, who recorded a 6-3, 6-4 victory over wild card Amine Ahouda.
Jiri Vesely reached his second ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season as he upset fourth seed Mischa Zverev 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 38 minutes. Vesely goes on to face fifth seed Paolo Lorenzi, who edged qualifier Gianluigi Quinzi 7-6(5), 2-6, 6-4 in an all-Italian clash.
Klaasen/Ram Reach Semis
Top seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram advanced to the semi-finals with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Guillermo Duran and Andres Molteni. The South African/American duo, who were runners-up at the ATP Finals last year, are chasing their third ATP World Tour title of the season to add to their victories at Delray Beach and Indian Wells. They go on to face Dominic Inglot and Mate Pavic, who beat third seeds Rohan Bopanna and Marcin Matkowski 6-2, 6-4.