Dimitrov wins World Tour Finals group, Thiem or Goffin to face Federer in semis

First order of business for Grigor Dimitrov in his World Tour Finals debut: qualify for the semis.

Second order of business: win Group A to avoid facing Roger Federer in the aforementioned semis.

Missions: complete.

One day after Federer clinched the top semifinal seed out of Group B, Dimitrov won Group A by destroying David Goffin 6-0, 6-2 on Wednesday afternoon. The Bulgarian, who kicked off his London campaign with a three-set victory over Dominic Thiem, improved to 2-0 during round-robin action after just one hour and 13 minutes.

“It could be,” Dimitrov responded when asked if this was his best performance since the Australian Open, where he made a run to the semifinals and lost to Rafael Nadal in five sets. “I’ve played I think a little bit over 50 matches. I think I need to sit down and think about it, but right now, from the top of my head, this is definitely the one that sticks out in terms of consistency, focus, striking the ball, movement, agility; everything that I can possibly think.

“Obviously I played well; it’s something I cannot hide. On my side, it was definitely a good day in the office.”

“I’m almost 100 percent physically,” said Goffin, who once again had his left knee taped up. “I’m feeling okay. It was not the problem today. It was just a tough, tough match against Grigor, who played really well. He was better today. He played well. He was a little bit more aggressive. He came to the net from the beginning, from the first point. He was really solid until the end of the match.”

Goffin, who ended Nadal’s season with a three-set upset on Monday, is now 1-1 at this week’s festivities inside the O2 Arena along with Thiem. They will go head-to-head on Friday in a virtual quarterfinal, with the winner guaranteed to face Federer in Saturday’s semis.

Thiem picked up his first win of the tournament by beating alternate Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 on Wednesday night. The Austrian blasted 12 aces and generated 13 break points–four of which he converted–before prevailing in two hours and six minutes.

“I’m very happy and pleased that I get the chance to play for the semifinals on Friday,” Thiem commented. “Not much calculating (to do). The winner goes through.”

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