Cilic, Thiem Lead Rotterdam Winners Thursday; Dimitrov Now 16-1 On Season

All Top 5 seeds advanced to the quarterfinals today in Rotterdam, lead by No. 1 Marin Cilic and No. 2 Dominic Thiem.

Cilic needed three sets to oust Borna Coric 6-1, 2-6, 6-4. Cilic, who made the finals in 2014, will now face 2011 runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

“I knew beforehand Coric is a real fighter,” Cilic said. “Borna has great talent. He continues to develop and I expect a lot from him in the future.”

After a 3-set win yesterday over Alexander Zverev, Thiem had an easier day against Gilles Simon with a 6-4, 7-6(4) win over the Frenchman. Next for Thiem is Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

Tomas Berdych beat up on Richard Gasquet 7-6, 6-1. The 2014 winner will take on defending champion Martin Klizan tomorrow.

David Goffin also beat local favorite Robin Haase. Next for the Belgian is a third straight meeting with Grigor Dimitrov, who was a winner over Denis Istomin. Dimitrov is now 16-1 on the season.

“Such a tournament last week at home still brings more pressure with it,” said Dimitrov. “After a tournament win the following tournament is never easy, but I have to stay focused and I just keep doing the right things.”

Dimitrov beat Goffin at the Australian Open and last week Sofia.

“He’s a tough player, a great competitor. We’ve played a few times, that’s the record, but it doesn’t mean anything to me,” said Dimitrov. “I have the same amount of respect for pretty much every player I play, so I never underestimate anyone. He’s been pretty consistent over the past year or so. For sure it’s going to be a great match for us. I just need to stay focused and play my game.”

FRIDAY ROTTERDAM SCHEDULE
CENTRE COURT start 11:00 am
[WC] W. Koolhof (NED) / M. Middelkoop (NED) vs [4] L. Kubot (POL) / M. Melo (BRA)
Not Before 12:30 pm
[4] T. Berdych (CZE) vs M. Klizan (SVK)
[1] M. Cilic (CRO) vs [6] J. Tsonga (FRA)
Not Before 7:30 pm
[5] G. Dimitrov (BUL) vs [3] D. Goffin (BEL)
[Q] P. Herbert (FRA) vs [2] D. Thiem (AUT)