The opening match in the Pete Sampras Group produced a feast of stylish backhands from both players but it was Dimitrov, the first Bulgarian to qualify for the tournament in its 48-year-old history, who overcome some late jitters to prevail.
Stuns World No 1 Djokovic to win 'biggest title of career'
Roger Federer ended Grigor Dimitrov's seven-match winning streak and showed the Bulgarian he has some way to go to live up to his 'Baby Federer' tag with a 6-3 7-6 (2) quarter-final victory at the Basel Open on Friday.
Photos from the ATP World Tour Finals matches played in London on Monday
Roger Federer eased his way into the ATP World Tour Finals with a 6-1, 7-6 (0) defeat of Canadian newcomer Milos Raonic in his opening round-robin match on Sunday.
Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna sealed a place in the semi-finals at the ATP World Tour Finals after getting the better of the second-ranked Belarusian-Canadian pair of Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor at the O2 Arena in London on Friday. In a tense Group B match that could have gone either way, the world No 5 Indian duo prevailed 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 10-5 in an hour and 55 minutes.
Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna won their first match at the ATP World Tour Finals, scoring a 6-3, 5-7, 10-5 victory over Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau in Group B to keep their semi-final hopes alive, while Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek also made a winning start.
The world number one was virtually guaranteed a semi-final berth before walking on court at the O2 Arena, but made doubly sure by cruising past Tomas Berdych in little more than an hour.
World tennis No 4 Rafael Nadal has pulled out of the Paris Masters and the ATP World Tour finals in London as he is still recovering from his left knee injury, the ATP said on Thursday.
In the earlier match, Zverev beat Cilic -- the Croat's 9th loss in 10-round robin matches in the Finals
Dominic Thiem stayed very much in the mix at the ATP World Tour Finals with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 victory over mercurial Frenchman Gael Monfils at the O2 Arena on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old has not always handled the expectations placed on his shoulders after he won the Wimbledon junior title in 2008 with a game style uncannily like Federer's.
Indian ace Leander Paes and his partner Lukas Dlouhy suffered a straight-set defeat against American Byran brothers Bob and Mike to be out of contention for a semi-final spot in the ATP World Tour Finals in London.
Speculation is rife that all is not well in among compatriots Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka.
Novak Djokovic fought back from a set down to beat Andy Murray 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 at the ATP World Tour Finals on Wednesday and all but seal a place in the last four of the season-ending tournament.
Greece's Tsitsipas battled back from 3-5 down in the third set to eliminate Medvedev with a 6-3, 6-7(11), 7-6(1) win to set up a showdown on Friday with Rublev for the Red Group's other semi-final spot.
Switzerland's challenge at the ATP World Tour Finals melted away like an Alpine glacier in a heatwave on Sunday as Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic marched on to the grand finale.
Japan's Kei Nishikori will make a third straight appearance at the ATP Tour finals next month after becoming the fifth player to qualify for the season-ending tournament, organisers said on Wednesday.
Cilic, eliminated after two three-set losses, was hoping to end his year on a high in the city where his Wimbledon dream was ended in this year's final by Federer - the Croatian sobbing on court after suffering blisters.
The 45-year-old Bopanna's final appearance on the Tour came at the Paris Masters, where he partnered Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik, losing in the opening round earlier this week.
The hardest nut in men's tennis again proved resistant to the heaviest of sledgehammers as Novak Djokovic absorbed the brute force of Juan Martin del Potro to book his place in the last four of the ATP World Tour Finals on Thursday.
Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro found himself in a strangely familiar position at the ATP World Tour Finals on Thursday after keeping his hopes on track with victory over Janko Tipsarevic.
The message from Novak Djokovic could not have been more emphatic after the Serb retained his title at the ATP World Tour Finals with a crushing victory over Rafa Nadal on Monday.
Roger Federer took a big step towards securing his endangered place in the ATP World Tour Finals by overcoming rising Canadian talent Vasek Pospisil 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-5 in the Basel Open semi-finals on Saturday.
Czech Tomas Berdych booked his place in the ATP World Tour Finals for the fifth time in a row when he advanced into the semi-finals of the Paris Masters with a 6-7(4) 6-4 6-4 victory over South African Kevin Anderson on Friday.
Cousins Valentin Vacherot and Arthur Rinderknech will meet in the Shanghai Masters final after pulling off stunning upsets of former champions Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals on Saturday.
Six-time champion Roger Federer survived a late-night Swiss semi-final thriller against Stanislas Wawrinka on Saturday to set up an ATP World Tour Finals showdown against Novak Djokovic.
With 1,500 points available for an undefeated champion next week, the tournament could produce a thrilling climax with Murray and Djokovic, who have never met at the O2, facing off in the final for the year-end number one ranking.
Russian sixth seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova claimed her third title of the year by beating seventh-seeded Australian Daria Gavrilova in the final of the Hong Kong Tennis Open on Sunday.
Carlos Alcaraz beat his great rival Jannik Sinner 7-5, 7-6(8) to win their Hyundai Card Super Match exhibition event in Incheon, South Korea, on Saturday that marked the start of the season for the world's top two men's tennis players.
The Serb easily beat the Spaniard 6-3, 6-4 at the O2 Arena.
The event comes at a time when tennis is facing criticism over its relentless tour schedule.
Roger Federer produced another masterly display to beat Japan's Kei Nishikori 6-3 6-2 and move a step closer to the semi-finals at the ATP World Tour Finals in London on Tuesday.
Stanislas Wawrinka will hang up his racquet at the end of 2026, the three-times Grand Slam champion announced on Friday, bringing down the curtain on a 24-year professional career that saw him gatecrash tennis's elite during the sport's golden era.
While off-court battles over pay and governance rumbled on, opportunities were scarce beyond the duopoly at the top of the men's game, leaving Djokovic to provide the year's standout moments for the chasing pack.
Niki Poonacha earns Grand Slam debut, wins Australian Open wild card play-off with Thai partner
Russian Medvedev, 29, last won a title at the Italian Open in May 2023 and has lost six finals since, including at the U.S. Open and Australian Open.
Richard Gasquet kept his ATP World Tour finals hopes alive when he overcame Fernando Verdasco 7-5, 6-7(6), 6-3 to reach the Paris Masters third round as fellow Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga crashed out of the race on Tuesday.
However, the 33-year-old Spaniard will not know until later on Friday whether his Herculean effort was in vain.
Taylor Fritz moved closer to the semis of the season-ending ATP Finals after the American beat Alex de Minaur 5-7 6-4 6-3 in their last group game on Thursday, but he will have to wait and see if Jannik Sinner can take a set off Daniil Medvedev.
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