Dimitrov, Troicki reach Sydney final

Both had to play two matches due to previous day’s rain delays

SYDNEY: Grigor Dimitrov and Viktor Troicki mastered rain disruptions to win two matches each on Friday to reach the final of the Sydney International.

Bulgaria’s Dimitrov downed Alexsandr Dolgopolov and Gilles Muller to reach his first ATP final in 14 months, while Serb Troicki defeated Nicolas Mahut and Teimuraz Gabashvili to move into his second straight Sydney final.

Rain forced suspensions of their quarter-finals on Thursday forcing the remaining men’s players to double up on Friday to set up Saturday’s decider.



Fourth seed Dimitrov, a former Wimbledon semi-finalist, accounted for eighth seed Dolgopolov, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and then followed up with a 6-2, 7-6 (7/4) victory over Luxembourg’s Muller to reach the final.

Third seed and defending champion Troicki fought back from a set down to oust Mahut 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 and then took out Russian Gabashvili 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

“It’s been good day in the office for me,” said Dimitrov. “I was pretty tired yesterday. Four times on and off the court... When I came back today I felt good as new. Then coming out the second match was... just a new day for me.”



Troicki, who beat Mikhail Kukushkin in last year’s Sydney final, said he handled the rain delays well. “Yeah, it was a good day, successful day. I played think good tennis considering the conditions today. Tough mentally going on and off the court all the time,” he said.

“I feel fine. I feel fit. This is what I worked for the last month and a bit more, since got here, for the preparations in Australia.”

Meanwhile, veteran Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova breezed past Monica Puig to win her 16th career title with a straight sets victory in the final of the Sydney International on Friday.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2016.

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