Dimitrov battles past Hurkacz into Paris semi-finals, ends Hurkacz’s hopes of qualifying for ATP Finals

Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov moved into the last four of Paris Masters by edging out Pole Hubert Hurkacz, the No 11 seed, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 at the Accor Arena on Friday afternoon.

Dimitrov, ranked No 17, will play the winner of the match between Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the No 7 seed, and Russian Karen Khachanov, the No 16 seed, next.

“He got on fire with the serve (in the second set),” Dimitrov said. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to get (another ) break. I was guessing but my guesses were wrong. I had to stay focused. A few points made a big difference today.”

Hurkacz’s best hope for Turin is as an alternate

The result means Hurkacz can no longer qualify for Turin, and the ATP Finals. The best he can do will be to finish as one of the top two alternates, meaning he can travel to Italy and be on standby to play should anyone get injured.

Dimitrov has now won 40 matches in 2023, his best return in a season since 2017, when he also won 49 matches and four titles, including the season-ending ATP Finals. “It’s good to have that,” he said. “I’m smiling. “I think the team is happy too.”

The Bulgarian won against Italian Lorenzo Musetti (6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3), Russian Daniil Medvedev, the No 3 seed (6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2)) and Kazakh Alexander Bublik (6-2, 6-2) earlier in the tournament.

In the previous rounds, Hurkacz, ranked No 11, beat American Sebastian Korda (6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3), Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut (6-3, 6-2) and Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo (6-4, 6-3).

Paris Masters, other quarter-finals results (Accor Arena, EUR 5.779.335, most recent results first):

• Alex De Minaur vs. Andrey Rublev
• Novak Djokovic vs. Holger Rune
• Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Karen Khachanov