Grigor Dimitrov put in the beatdown of the tournament Wednesday crushing David Goffin 6-0, 6-2 in round robin play at the ATP Finals in London.
“I think clearly I played a great match today,” Dimitrov said after the 74-minute affair. “I think my focus was very good. I started the match well. I was using every opportunity. I took care of all of the balls that I had to. I won the most important points, especially in the first set.”
Dimitrov is now 2-0 in the round robin and he’s already clinched the No. 1 seeding from the group in the Saturday semifinals, meaning he’ll face Thursday’s winner between Alexander Zverev and Jack Sock.
In the afternoon, Pablo Carreno Busta made his ATP Finals debut. Filling in for an injured Rafael Nadal, Carreno Busta made it a match against Dominic Thiem but the Austrian was too tough in the end scoring a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory. He improved to 5-0 against Carreno Busta.
Thiem will now face Goffin on Friday with the winner playing Saturday in the semifinals against Roger Federer.
“I have to now prepare for the next one… As a tennis player, normally you lose almost every week. Like I said, it’s just another loss. The most important [thing] is to think about the next match,” Goffin said. “I have already an idea with the tactics against [Thiem] because I played so many times against him. We played a lot of good matches against each other.”
Added Thiem, “I’m very happy and pleased that I get the chance to play for the semi-finals on Friday… We had some big, important matches in the past, also in the deep rounds of Slams. This one’s going to be another one. We know each other very well. He played a very good match here, one very bad match. I don’t know what to expect. I’m hoping that it’s going to be a tough match, and I’m trying everything to go through to the semis.”
The Swiss 6-time champion is in action on Thursday against Marin Cilic. But with the Becker group top seed his, the outcome has no meaning for the semifinals, though points and prize are at stake. Federer is 7-1 against Cilic and overall he’s won his last 12 matches.
Zverev and Sock will follow with a semifinal berth against Dimitrov at stake. The two have split two prior meetings in October of 2016. Both are playing their first ATP Finals, both won Masters titles this year.
“I’m not the type of guy that will just enter a draw and be happy to make the third round or the quarters or whatever,” Sock said on Tuesday. “I’m here to win matches. Not only here, but all tournaments. I think if I do the right things and I play the right tennis, I can give myself a chance to play on the weekend of any tournament. I think I’ve showed that more this year. Obviously there’s a rough patch in the middle with some things going on.
“I’m 25 years old. I’m not the new kid on the block any more. It’s kind of my time, the next however many years. Yeah, I’m just trying to do what I can.”
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