Dimitrov moves closer to London World Tour Finals berth

Bengaluru, October 12: Grigor Dimitrov edged closer towards booking a berth in the ATP World Tour Finals in London after reaching the quarterfinals of the ongoing Shanghai Masters.

The Bulgarian beat American Sam Querrey 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) at the Qi Zhong Stadium courts today (October 12) to book a place in the last eight.

#Grigor #Dimitrov qualifies for #China #Open quarterfinals:https://t.co/eVwQdbLPpT pic.twitter.com/BHv4fycuFg

— Radio Bulgaria (@RB_English) October 5, 2017

The 26-year-old is currently fifth in the Emirates ATP Race To London with 3,455 points, just 270 behind fourth-placed Austrian Dominic Thiem.

A semifinal berth in Shanghai would further increase his chances of making it to the season-ending finale featuring the world's top-eight players to be held at the 02 London Arena from November 12 to 19.

But his task is easier said than done as he faces world No.1 Rafael Nadal for a place in the last eight.

Nadal, Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev have already qualified for the London event.

Dimitrov has been in good form this season winning won three ATP World Tour titles (Brisbane, Sofia and Cincinnati).

He had never advanced past the second round in Shanghai and the victory against Querrey has given him a lot of confidence as he hopes to qualify for the ATP season-ending finale for the first time.

The sixth seed had it really tough though in the second round where he saved three match points in the third set tie-breaker before posting a hard-fought 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) win over America's Ryan Harrison.