Dimitrov saves match point v Cerundolo to reach Miami semi-finals

Grigor Dimitrov, the No 14 seed, edged out Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo, the No 23 seed, 6-7 (6), 6-4, 7-6 (3) to reach the semi-finals of the Miami Masters in Florida on Wednesday night.

It was a gargantuan effort by Dimitrov who saved a match point at 6-5 in the deciding set, having already comeback from 3-0 down after looking gone for all money when the match ticked into its third hour in Hard Rock Stadium.

However, the Bulgarian left it all on the court – so much so that he was unable to complete his post-match interview due to dizziness – digging deep to force a third-set tiebreak then raising his level to win his ninth deciding break from his last 10 played.

The win takes Dimitrov to 150 ATP Masters 1000 level victories, making him the first man born after 1990 to achieve the mark. He also becomes just the third player 30 years or older to make back-to-back Miami Masters semi-finals, having reached this stage in 2024 as well.

When the 33-year-old is nursing his sore legs this evening, he’ll likely rue not finishing the match off much quicker. The 14th seed had a whopping seven set points in the opener but was unable to close out, with Cerundolo stealing the set from underneath him in a tiebreak.

Dimitrov came back strong, however, with his freak athleticism on full display as he consistently forced Cerundolo into committing errors over the second set.

The Argentine had a resurgence of his own early in the third, but it was Dimitrov who wanted it more and proved more solid under pressure when it mattered.

Dimitrov, ranked No 15, will face the winner of the match between American Sebastian Korda, the No 24 seed, and Serb Novak Djokovic, the No 4 seed, next.

In the previous rounds of the Miami Open, the 33-year-old Bulgarian won against Italian wildcard Federico Cina (6-1, 6-4), Russian Karen Khachanov, the No 22 seed (6-7 (3), 6-4, 7-5) and American Brandon Nakashima, the No 31 seed (6-4, 7-5).

Cerundolo, ranked No 24, defeated Frenchman Alexandre Muller (6-1, 6-2), American Tommy Paul, the No 12 seed (6-2, 7-6 (4)) and Norwegian Casper Ruud, the No 5 seed (6-4, 6-2) earlier in the tournament.

Miami Masters 1000, other last eight results (Hard Rock Stadium, hard, USD 9.193.540, most recent results first):

• Taylor Fritz vs. Matteo Berrettini
• Arthur Fils vs. Jakub Mensik
• Sebastian Korda vs. Novak Djokovic