Dimitrov seals semifinal berth, Thiem survives

Published by Matt Trollope

Grigor Dimitrov's win over David Goffin at the ATP FInals sealed his spot in the last four; Getty Images
Grigor Dimitrov continued his incredible ATP Finals debut while Dominic Thiem scored a much-needed win at the season-ending event.

Grigor Dimitrov has thrashed David Goffin to seal his place in the last four at London’s ATP Finals.

The Bulgarian allowed the Belgian just two games in a 73-minute, 6-0 6-2 beatdown to continue his fantastic debut at the O2.

DID YOU SEE? Dimitrov wows with vaunted volley

Later on Wednesday, Dominic Thiem at last hung on for a nail-biting victory, outlasting alternate Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3 3-6 6-4 to win his first match at this year’s finale.

Thiem will battle Goffin on Friday to snare the other semifinal place from the Pete Sampras round-robin group.

Thiem had lost a succession of close matches post-Wimbledon, blowing match points in losses to Kevin Anderson in Washington DC, Diego Schwartzman in Montreal and Juan Martin del Potro at the US Open.

He also lost tight three-setters to Steve Johnson in Tokyo, Victor Troicki in Shanghai and Peter Gojowczyk in Paris, and had gone 2-6 in his last eight matches prior to his battle with Carreno Busta.

But despite dropping the second set to the Spaniard – spraying 14 unforced errors in the process – Thiem hung on, recovering from 15-30 in the final game to serve out the match.

Dimitrov, meanwhile, said things couldn’t have gone much better in his annihilation of Goffin.

“You get a few days in the year when everything you touch turns into gold, I had one of those today,” Dimitrov said.

“But I work for those days. It’s very nice when they come on such an occasion.

“I’m very humbled to win that match. I just wanted to come out and compete today. It’s just a special win for me.”

FEATURES: no rest until Gavrilova hits her best

Dimitrov looked on course to post a rare double-bagel at the ATP Finals; the last was when Roger Federer shut out Gaston Gaudio in 2005.

Dimitrov lead 6-0 3-0 before the Belgian finally got on the board.

On Thursday, Alexander Zverev and Jack Sock – both with 1-1 records this year at the ATP Finals – will battle for a semifinal berth in the Boris Becker Group.

They are aiming to join Federer in the last four, who is already 2-0 and taking on the winless Marin Cilic.

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