Grigor Dimitrov defeated Hubert Hurkach of Poland 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 to get to the Paris Masters semi-finals. By doing this, Dimitrov advanced to his second straight Masters semi-final, having first done so in Shanghai in October. He will now square off against either Karen Khachanov (Russia) or Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece) tomorrow in the French capital to claim a spot in the championship match.
With two break points and just one game against Hurkac in the opening set, Dimitrov, who defeated world No. 3 Daniil Medvedev in the second round, was off and running against Hurkac. In the second set, Hurkach, ranked eleventh, controlled his service game and managed the lone break to tie the match. Hurkach was in the running to make it to the ATP Finals but dropped out following that loss. After an hour and forty-eight minutes of play, Grigor was very steady in the deciding set, waiting for his chance to take Hurkach's serve and end the match on his own serve.
The Bulgarian tennis player was highly decisive in the crucial points and took advantage of all three of his opportunities to break through the match, finishing with 30 winning strokes (9 aces) against just six unwarranted mistakes. In 16 net games, he scored 12 points as well. Hurkach, on the other hand, had a favorable balance with 35 wins and 13 unintentional errors, including 19 aces.
Dimitrov will attempt to make it to his second Masters event final tomorrow after winning four of his previous meetings against Hurkach. It is only the second time in his career that he has advanced to two straight semifinals on this tour. He reached his eleventh Masters semifinal. Additionally, Dimitrov accomplished a career-high 40 victories since the beginning of the season for the third time. /BGNES
