Grigor Dimitrov to face Juan Martin del Potro in blockbuster Stockholm final
Saturday 21 October 2017 17:53, UK
Grigor Dimitrov consolidated his bid to play in a first ATP Finals by reaching the Stockholm final where he will face defending champion Juan Martin del Potro.
Bulgaria's Dimitrov beat Italy's Fabio Fognini 6-3 7-6 (7-2) to make it through to Sunday's final and improve his chances of playing at the season-ending World Tour Finals in London next month.
Top-seeded Dimitrov climbed fifth ahead of Marin Cilic in the race to qualify for the O2 tournament with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem having already confirmed their places.
In Sunday's final, Dimitrov will play Del Potro after the fourth seed defeated Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-1).
Del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion, will be looking to claim a 20th career title and become just the third Argentine player to reach the mark after Guillermo Vilas, who won 62 titles and Jose Luis Clerc who ended his career on 25.
In Antwerp, French No 1 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated local player Ruben Bemelmans 6-3 6-3 to reach the final.
It will be Tsonga's first final in five months, with the 32-year-old next due to play at the Vienna Open starting Monday and then the Paris Masters the following week.
Tsonga is also set to lead France in next month's Davis Cup final against Belgium in Lille.
On Sunday, Tsonga will go up against Diego Schwartzman of Argentina who beat the 19-year-old Greek sensation Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 7-5 in the second semi-final.
At the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, Bosnian sixth seed Damir Dzumhur will take on Ricardas Berankis from Lithuania in the final after wins over Mirza Basic and third-ranked Adrian Mannarino respectively.
Sky Sports will have all the action from the Erste Bank Open in Vienna and Swiss Indoors Basel before the Paris Masters.
The Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan and season-ending extravaganza World Tour Finals at London's O2 in November end another memorable year which will be covered via our website www.skysports.com/tennis with live blogs and updates as the season reaches its climax.
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