10SBALLS SHARES RICKY’S PICKS FOR THE CHENGDU TENNIS SEMIFINALS: DIMITROV VS. RAMOS-VINOLAS AND TROICKI VS. KHACHANOV

Written by: Staff on 30th September 2016

10SBALLS SHARES RICKY'S PICKS FOR THE CHENGDU TENNIS SEMIFINALS: DIMITROV VS. RAMOS-VINOLAS AND TROICKI VS. KHACHANOV |

Photo by @livetennis via Twitter.

By Ricky Dimon

The top two seeds at the Chengdu Open (Dominic Thiem and Nick Kyrgios) are gone, leaving Grigor Dimitrov as arguably the title favorite heading into semifinal action on Saturday. Dimitrov is facing Albert Ramos-Vinolas, while Viktor Troicki is going up against Karen Khachanov. Ricky previews the action and makes his predictions.

(5) Albert Ramos-Vinolas vs. (3) Grigor Dimitrov

@albertramos88 ousts top seed #Thiem for @ChengduOpen semi-final vs #Dimitrov. – Photo by @ATPWorldTour via Twitter.

Dimitrov and Ramos-Vinolas will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers at the ATP when they battle for a spot in the Chengdu final on Saturday. After splitting a pair of lower-level meetings in 2008 and 2009, Dimitrov prevailed on the main tour in 2012 and 2014. He won 7-6(1), 6-3 on the red clay of Bastad before pocketing a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters two seasons later.

Dimitrov has failed to live up to lofty expectations since then, but a slow start to 2016 has given way to a recent hot streak. The 21st-ranked Bulgarian advanced to the quarterf in Toronto, the semis at the Cincinnati Masters, and the fourth round of the U.S. Open. So far in Chengdu he has taken out Dusan Lajovic and Diego Schwartzman.

“He played really well at the beginning of the match,” Dimitrov said of Schwartzman following a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 decision. “Whatever I was trying was not working. I tried to overpower him a little bit. He’s the type of player who will not give you anything for free. I had to fight and find a new way to rattle him. I think after that break, at 4-3 in the second set, the momentum start to shift a bit.

“I knew that I need to keep my composure and stay calm. I played a pretty loose game in the third set. I shouldn’t do that. If it’s against any better player, for sure I would have suffered. Right now I am just very happy to make it to the semifinals.”

Ramos-Vinolas held off Michael Berrer and Yen-Hsun Luin three sets before knocking out the top-seeded Thiem 6-1, 6-4. The Spaniard had been just 1-6 in his last seven matches prior to this week, but he is still a decent 29-25 for the year and should be up to at least No. 28 in the rankings on Monday. Especially on this hard-court surface, though, Dimitrov should once again have the advantage in this matchup.

Pick: Dimitrov in 3

Karen Khachanov vs. (6) Viktor Troicki

Troicki will join Ramos-Vinolas in the top 30 next week if he gets the job done in Saturday’s Chengdu semis. The world No. 32 lost his opener at four consecutive events after Wimbledon, but he is now 9-3 in his last 12 matches–a stretch that includes a semifinal finish in Winston-Salem and a quarterfinal showing last week in St. Petersburg. Troicki earned his place in the last four at this event by defeating Casper Ruud, Marcos Baghdatis, and Kevin Anderson.

Sixth seed @troicki_viktor gets the better of #Baghdatis for 1st time in 6 years to reach the @ChengduOpen QF. – Photo by @ATPWorldTour via Twitter.

Up next for the Serb is a first-ever encounter with Khachanov, who is through to the first ATP semi of his career. The 20-year-old Russian previously made a run to the quarterfiinals on the red clay of Kitzbuhel, and he has now gone one step further thanks to wins over Joao Sousa, Adrian Mannarino, and Feliciano Lopez. The world No. 101 is expected to return to his career-high ranking of No. 81 even if he falls to Troicki. In what is likely to be a competitive affair, Troicki’s experience should make the difference.

Pick: Troicki in 3