By Alberto Amalfi | Thursday, October 1, 2015
Grigor Dimitrov rallied for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Joao Sousa, joining top-seeded David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez in the Kuala Lumpur quarterfinals.
Photo credit: Malaysian Open
In a season where his confidence and results have eroded, Grigor Dimitrov created cause for optimism against a former champion today.
Dimitrov rallied for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over 2013 Kuala Lumpur champion Joao Sousa to advance to the Malaysian Open quarterfinals.
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Playing catch-up for much of the match, Dimitrov fended off nine of 12 break points, including five of six in the decisive set. Sousa, who bounced Dimitrov out of the 2013 US Open first round, served just 38 percent in the third set.
The fourth-seeded Bulgarian is through to his fifth quarterfinal of the year. Dimitrov will play 34-year-old German Benjamin Becker for a semifinal spot.
Top-seeded David Ferrer turned back Radek Stepanek, 7-5, 6-3, in a match of 30-somethings. In the first set, Ferrer won 12 of 14 points played on the veteran Czech's second serve.
The 33-year-old Spaniard raised his 2015 hard-court record to 22-4. Bidding for his third trip to the Kuala Lumpur semifinals, Ferrer will face Mikhail Kukushkin next. Ferrer is 4-0 lifetime against the world No. 48 from Kazakhstan.
Timely serving helped Feliciano Lopez advance to his seventh quarterfinal of the season. The second-seeded Spaniard hit 11 of his 15 aces in the second set, dispatching qualifier Mischa Zverev, 6-3, 7-6 (4), in a 90-minute all-lefty match.
Lopez enjoyed a cook-off with Vasek Pospisil earlier this week he'll try to dish out defeat to the eighth-seeded Canadian in the quarterfinals.
Pospisil won exactly one more point (105 to 104) than Marcos Baghdatis, grinding out a 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-3 win in two hours, 28 minutes. Baghdatis beat Pospisil in the Atlanta quarterfinals earlier this season.