The semifinals are set at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel. Dominic Thiem is the highest remaining seed. The fourth seed booked his spot in the final four with a 7-5, 6-2 win over 7th seed Grigor Dimitrov.

Thiem Gets Through Bumpy Opener, Rolls Late

Dominic Thiem started fast in his first career meeting with Grigor Dimitrov on Thursday The fourth seed broke Dimitrov in the opening game of the match. Thiem would consolidate at-love for a perfect 2-0 start. The fourth seed would threaten Dimitrov's serve again in the third game, forcing the 7th seed to four deuces. Dimitrov would steady and get on the board with a hold. Thiem stumbled in the next game to allow the 7th seed to get back on serve at 2-2. Two quick holds followed and then Thiem threatened again in game seven. Dimitrov was forced to save three break points to get the hold at 4-3. The set would move to 5-5 when Thiem forced two more break chances. This time, he would convert for a 6-5 lead. The Austrian would close out the set on-serve to take the lead.

A dejected Grigor Dimitrov in Acapulco (Photo: Abierto Mexicano Telcel)
A dejected Grigor Dimitrov in Acapulco (Photo: Abierto Mexicano Telcel)

The second set started identically as Thiem again ate into the Dimitrov serve and immediately broke the 7th seed for a 1-0 lead. Thiem would cruise after that, using a solid serve to control the action to finish off the 7-5, 6-2 win. The Austrian would win 18 of 25 points on serve in the set, while Dimitrov struggled as he did for the majority of the match. The 7th seed won just 54 percent of his service points. Thiem said getting through the nervy first set was a big help in getting his game on track, “Breaking him in the first game of the second set was maybe the deciding moment of this match. The key of this match was to win the first set. I started to play better and better and the momentum swung to my side."

Querrey Wins All-American Battle

Thiem will face Sam Querrey in the semifinals on Friday. Querrey remained red hot as he survived a tough test against qualifier Taylor Fritz 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Querrey recovered after a first set that saw him win just 14 of 24 service points, losing his serve twice to the 18-year-old. After that, Querrey ramped up his serve, winning 33 of 39 first serve points over the next two sets. The Delray Beach champion did not face another break point after the first set.  He would thump a dozen of his 14 aces in the final two sets to secure his 8th straight win. Querrey said in post-match that he just need to simplify things after a rough opening set, "Second set, I just slowed down and made him play. Once I got a break midway through I relaxed a little bit and was able to settle into the match."

Tomic, Dolgopolov Advance

Fifth seed Bernard Tomic was the first player to secure a spot in the semifinals. The Aussie opened play on Friday and took care of business against Ilya Marchenko 7-5, 7-5. Tomic broke Marchenko in the second game of the opening set. He would hold that lead until the 9th game, when he faltered trying to serve out the set. The two would trade service holds to 6-5 in favor of Tomic. That is when the Aussie would get into another Marchenko service game, breaking to close out the set.

Bernard Tomic returns a shot during his quarterfinal (Photo: Abierto Mexicano Telcel)
Bernard Tomic returns a shot during his quarterfinal (Photo: Abierto Mexicano Telcel)

Tomic  was shaky to open the second set as he allowed four break opportunities to the Ukrainian. Marchenko finally took advantage of the fourth to break for a 1-0 lead. He could not take advantage though as he was broken immediately in game two. Tomic would run into trouble again in game seven as he was broken a second time. It looked like that break might cost the Aussie the set, but he was able to take advantage of some possible nerves from Marchenko as he tried to close out the set at 5-4. Tomic would break and then run off the final two games to close out the win in straight sets. The key stat in the match was the break conversion rate. Tomic cashed in on five of six attempts, while Marchenko bagged half of his six chances.

Tomic advances to the semifinals to battle Alexandr Dolgopolov. A day after beating top seed David Ferrer, Dolgopolov survived a shaky start to win relatively easily against Robin Haase 6-3, 6-3. The match started with three straight service breaks before Dolgopolov grabbed control in game four with the first hold. He would drop just two points on serve in his final two service games, grabbing a bonus break to close out the first set. Dologpolov remained on-point in the second set, losing just four points in five service games. He would get the decisive break in the 8th game.

Friday's Semifinals

Play resumes in Acapulco on Friday evening with Tomic and Dolgopolov to contest the first semifinal. The two will be meeting for the 10th time with Dolgopolov holding a 6-3 advantage. They split two meetings in 2015. The second semifinal pits Thiem against Querrey. They will meet for the first time.

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About the author
Chris Spiech
Tennis fan who still is not sure exactly how he became a tennis fan.