Defending champion Juan Martin del Potro reached the finals of the 2017 Intrum Stockholm Open after beating eighth seed Fernando Verdasco, 7(4), 6-4, 7-6(1), in Saturday’s semifinal. Del Potro made it to his first final this season where he will go for his 20th career title against top seed Grigor Dimitrov. The 29-year-old del Potro has made a late-season comeback, putting himself in a position to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals. He is currently 15th in the ATP Race To London rankings with 2,035 points. If he beats Dimitrov, del Potro will be just 480 points behind No.
9 Pablo Carreno Busta, who currently holds the last qualifying spot with No. 7 Stan Wawrinka out for the season due to injury.
However, it will not be an easy match for del Potro, as he will face the in-form Dimitrov, who disposed of sixth seed Fabio Fognini in straight sets in the other semifinal pairing. With his victory over Fognini, Dimitrov solidified his bid for a spot in the Nitto ATP Finals as he climbed to No. 5 in the ATP Race To London rankings. Del Potro leads Dimitrov, 5-2, in their head-to-head showdown, but the latter won their last two clashes in Beijing and Cincinnati this year. Dimitrov will go for his career-best fourth trophy of the season after winning in Brisbane, Sofia and Cincinnati.
Tsonga books spot in European Open finals
Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga booked a spot in the finals of the European Open via an impressive 6-3, 6-3 win over home favorite Ruben Bemelmans. Tsonga needed just 73 minutes to dispose of Bemelmans and reach his fourth ATP World Tour final of the season. This marks Tsonga’s first finals appearance since winning the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon title in May.
For the title, Tsonga will play Argentine Diego Schwartzman, who defeated 19-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-3, 7-5. Schwartzman, who will go for his second ATP title, will play Tsonga for the first time in his career. The Argentine captured his maiden title last year at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open where he defeated Dimitrov in the finals.
Dzumhur makes it to finals in Moscow
Sixth seed Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia defeated qualifier and compatriot Mirza Basic in straight sets to advance to the finals of the VTB Kremlin Cup in Moscow. With the victory, Dzumhur made it to his second finals on Russian soil, after winning his first ATP title at the St. Petersburg Open in September. He is expected to climb from No. 38 to at least No. 33 when the latest rankings are released Monday. For the title, Dzumhur will play Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis, who reached his second ATP World Tour final via a three-set win over Adrian Mannarino.
