An intriguing semifinal showdown between David Goffin and Roberto Bautista Agut is part of the Saturday schedule in Sofia. Grigor Dimitrov has a more surprising contest on his hands, as he is facing Nikoloz Basilashvili.
(3) Roberto Bautista Agut vs. (2) David Goffin
Goffin and Bautista Agut will be going head-to-head for the fourth time in their careers and for the third time at the ATP level when they battle for a place in the Sofia Open final on Saturday. Bautista Agut has won all three of their previous encounters; 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 at an indoor Challenger event in 2012, 6-2, 7-5 one season later in Dubai, and via retirement while leading two sets to one at the 2015 U.S. Open.
The Spaniard has to like his chances of maintaining dominance over Goffin, even though he is the lower-ranked of the two competitors (No. 16 to No. 11). Not only is Bautista Agut the defending champion of this tournament, but he is also an awesome 11-1 this year with a title in Chennai, a fourth-round performance at the Australian Open, and wins this week over Cedrik Marcel-Stebe and Gilles Muller. Goffin is through to the semis thanks to defeats of Radu Albot and Steve Darcis. The Belgian advanced to the quarterfinals Down Under, but he does not have any particularly good wins in 2017 other than at the expense of a slumping Dominic Thiem. A confident Bautista Agut will likely continue his hot streak by breaking down the Goffin forehand.
Pick: Bautista Agut in 3
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Nikoloz Basilashvili vs. (3) Grigor Dimitrov
Speaking of victories over Thiem, Basilashvili ousted the top-seeded Austrian earlier this week in Sofia for the best win of his career. The 87th-ranked Georgian, who opened by beating Adrian Mannarino in a pair of tiebreakers, parlayed that result into an 0-6, 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Martin Klizan on Friday. It is fair to say, however, that the competition level ratchets up dramatically in the form of Dimitrov.
The 13th-ranked Bulgarian has been one of the best players on tour this season–even better than Bautista Agut. With a title in Brisbane, a semifinal finish at the Aussie Open, and victories at this event over Jerzy Janowicz and Viktor Troicki, Dimitrov is an amazing 12-1 for his 2017 campaign. He was especially impressive in the quarterfinals, when he hammered Troicki 6-3, 6-3. Spurred on by a boisterous home crowd, Dimitrov should have no trouble ending Basilashvili’s run.
Pick: Dimitrov in 2
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Dimi and a gut in 2 and 3
Goffin in three and dimitrov in two
Glad it woke up in time to watch the fight between Goffin and RBA.
Come on Goffin! I picked him to win this in 3. But Goffin is having a difficult time holding — he’s held off RBA though and it’s 4-4 first set
… well, RBA has his madman look. Might as well let him get the first set and pounce on him in the second set.