Karen Khachanov’s hot streak sinks Grigor Dimitrov’s Turin hopes in Paris | ATP Tour

Khachanov’s hot streak sinks Dimitrov’s Turin hopes in Paris

Bulgarian out of Nitto ATP Finals qualifying contention

November 01, 2024

Karen Khachanov snapped a four-match losing streak against Grigor Dimitrov to charge into the Rolex Paris Masters semi-finals Friday night as he eliminated the Bulgarian from Nitto ATP Finals contention with a comfortable 6-2, 6-3 win.

Dimitrov needed to beat Khachanov and then advance to the final to pass eighth-placed Alex De Minaur in the PIF ATP Live Race to Turin and move inside the cut for the season finale, which he won on debut in 2017.

In a battle between this year’s leading indoor match wins leaders, Dimitrov lacked his usual spark after a draining third-set tie-break win over Arthur Rinderknech the night before. In contrast, an energized Khachanov continued his sizzling form, claiming his 12^th win in his past 13 matches.

“I started sharp from the baseline and tried to put pressure from the beginning,” Khachanov said. “I was able to break him in the first game and take the lead and after that I noticed that he wasn’t feeling 100 per cent. But he wanted to play and I respect that. Credit to him for that.”

Asked to explain the hot streak that has taken him to the Almaty title, the Vienna final and now to his fifth ATP Masters 1000 semi-final, Khachanov said, “I try not to think about it, to be honest. When you are felling the rhythm, feeling the momentum you just want to continue enjoying the moment and continue playing the same way, with just a slight change of tactics for a different opponent. But playing with the same belief, enthusiasm and enjoyment.”

The 2018 Paris champion, who saved a match point in his opening match this week against Australian Christopher O’Connell, was 0-4 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Dimitrov, who won a third-set tie-break on an indoor hard court in Marseille in their lone meeting this year.

Dimitrov had a disappointing night on serve, putting just 48 per cent of first serves into play and winning only six of 26 second-serve points. In contrast, Khachanov needed to hit just 11 second serves for the match, winning seven. He did not face a break point. Khachanov made just 12 unforced errors to Dimitrov’s 28.

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In the semi-finals Khachanov will play Ugo Humbert, who advanced to his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final when he moved past Australian Jordan Thompson 6-2, 7-6(4).

The French lefty upset World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz in front of an electric crowd on Thursday night and backed up that win by defeating Thompson in one hour and 38 minutes.

In a dramatic second set, Humbert squandered two match points on Thompson’s serve at 5-4 before he lost his serve in the following game. The Frenchman quickly broke back to force a tie-break, sealing victory on his third match point.

Humbert has won his past 12 matches on French indoor hard courts, having lifted trophies in Metz last year and in Marseille in February. The 26-year-old is the first Frenchman to reach the last four in Paris since Julien Benneteau fell to Jack Sock in 2017.