Third seed Grigor Dimitrov rallied from a set and a break down to reach the Chengdu Open semi-finals on Friday, battling past Diego Schwartzman 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in just over two hours.
Since the Rogers Cup in Toronto, where he joined forces with coach, Dani Vallverdu, Dimitrov has gone 11-4 on the ATP World Tour, enjoying a resurgence in form that has seen him reach the semi-finals in Cincinnati (l. to Cilic) and the fourth round of the US Open (l. to Murray).
Dimitrov, who clinched his 200th tour-level win on Wednesday, will now look to reach his third ATP World Tour final of the season, but it was not without a fight that he got by Schwartzman.
The Bulgarian was in trouble as he trailed by a set and 3-1 in the second set, but broke back in the eighth game before breaking again in the 10th game to force a decider. After relinquishing an early service break in the third set, Dimitrov broke decisively in the fourth game and went on to seal victory.
"He played really well at the beginning of the match," said Dimitrov. "Whatever I was trying was not working. I tried to overpower him a little bit. He's the type of player who will not give you anything for free. I had to fight and find a new way to rattle him. I think after that break, at 4-3 in the second set, the momentum start to shift a bit.
"I knew that I need to keep my composure and stay calm. I played a pretty loose game in the third set. I shouldn't do that. If it's against any better player, for sure I would have suffered. Right now I am just very happy to make it to the semi-finals."
For a place in the final of this inaugural ATP World Tour 250 tournament, Dimitrov will face fifth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who ousted top seed Dominic Thiem 6-1, 6-4 in just under one hour.
