Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov made it to his maiden US Open semi-final after registering his first-ever win over Swiss legend Roger Federer in the quarter-final clash at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
On Tuesday night, Dimitrov came from two sets to one down and defeated the five-time US Open champion 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in a match that lasted more than three hours.
The 28-year-old had never beaten the third seed in seven previous meetings, winning just two of 18 sets in those matchups.
“I think the past six, seven months have been pretty rough for me. But I had somebody to lean on, my friends, my family. I kept on believing again in the work, the rehab I had to put behind my shoulder, the exercise, the practice, fixing up the racquet a little bit. There were so many things I had to adjust in such a small but big period of time,” Dimitrov said. “Next thing you know, you’re almost [at the] end of the year, you have a result like that. It’s pretty special to me.”
In the semi-final, Dimitrov will play in-form fifth seed Daniil Medvedev, who defeated Stan Wawrinka 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to become the youngest men’s semifinalist at the US Open since 2010.
(With inputs from IANS)