Grigor Dimitrov is trying to resurrect his season at the 2017 Cincinnati Masters in Ohio. The Bulgarian is into the quarterfinals having defeated Juan Martin del Potro in straight sets on Thursday. The line score in that match was a convincing one for Dimitrov. He defeated del Potro 6-3, 7-5 to book a spot in the tournament's final eight.

Dimitrov looking to end a slump

Dimitrov has not achieved much since the early months of 2017. However he has to like his chances to go further in Cincinnati. The Bulgarian has picked up a quarterfinal opponent named Yuichi Sugita.

The Japanese player appears to be playing well in Cincinnati this week, having eliminated both Jack Sock and Karen Khachanov. Sugita does remain an inexperienced player for this point in a big tournament. The 28-year old entered this week as the World No. 46 and following early losses at both Wimbledon and the Rogers Cup. He is an interesting player to keep an eye on as he did win a 250-level title in Turkey very early in the summer. That title, even at a low-tiered tournament, is more than Dimitrov has accomplished on tour since winning Sofia several months ago.

It's possible that Sugita is a little below everyone's radar right now, although Dimitrov is still the much more accomplished player.

Dimitrov did win their only head-to-head in the past. Last year they faced one another in Canada in what was a closely contested match. Dimitrov won by a single break in the third set at the 2016 Rogers Cup in Toronto.

David Ferrer beats Carreno-Busta and the rain

Another player that advanced on Thursday was David Ferrer. Ferrer, like Sugita, is a recent title winner on the ATP tour.

The Spaniard won Bastad on clay a short time ago, attesting to elevated play at what can only be called the late stages of his career. On Thursday Ferrer took out a much younger opponent in Pablo Carreno-Busta, a fellow Spanish player. Ferrer won the match without the need for a tiebreaker in either set, nor did Ferrer need a deciding third set.

The line score in their match was 6-4, 6-4.

Cincinnati is currently going through a rain delay that has suspended play at the time of writing. That means that the players that advanced early are the lucky ones. The other players will have to revolve their routines around the rain. If the delay is significant then it may lead to matches being pushed forward. With a Sunday final it's possible that some players may have to pull double duty on Friday should the tournament not complete its Thursday schedule. That gives the players that are already through to the quarterfinals a scheduling advantage.
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