Grigor Dimitrov reaches first ATP Masters 1000 final in six years in Paris

For the first time since 2017, Grigor Dimitrov will play for an ATP Masters 1000 title. The Bulgarian booked a spot in the final of the Rolex Paris Masters with a 6-3, 6-7(1), 7-6(3) win over Stefanos Tsitsipas Saturday—his second Top 10 win over the tournament and seventh this year.

An unseeded semifinalist in Paris for the second time in his career (he lost to Novak Djokovic in the penultimate round in 2019), the 32-year-old rewrote history in two hours and 32 minutes and beat Tsitsipas for just the second time in eight career meetings. He was also 1-8 in ATP Masters 1000 semifinals in his career coming into the match.

"There were no tears but I got very emotional," Dimitrov said afterwards. "I am just living in the moment right now. It has been a funny road of late, but each win means more and more to me."

"I am just happy I was able to get through that match in such a manner. After that second set, especially the tiebreak, it was getting very tricky again. 15-40 down in the third [at 1-1], and I was just thinking it can't keep going like this, so I have to change something. In order to beat someone like him, I just had to step through. That is the only thing I could have done."

Against Tsitsipas, Dimitrov struck 38 winners, won 23-of-25 points at the net, and saved all four break points he faced (all in the third game of the final set) to add the Greek's name to his list of high-profile wins this week. In the second round, Dimitrov also edged world No. 3 Daniil Medvedev in a third-set tiebreak, and his last three matches against Tsitsipas have also been decided in that fashion. He won the first five points of the decisive first-to-seven breaker.

"I played very good [in the tiebreak]," Dimitrov said, calling the first five points "excellent."

"I took those chances and that was all I could do against such a high-quality player. If you let him dictate you are done. But I kept on believing and kept staying focused and made sure every time I had the ball on the racquet, I did something with it."

Four of Dimitrov's five wins this week have, in fact, come in a tense decider: He also beat Lorenzo Musetti in the first round, and Hubert Hurkacz in the quarterfinals, in three sets.

In Sunday's final, Dimitrov will bid for his ninth career ATP singles title and first since winning four in 2017, including the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals. Coincidentally, he also won the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati that year, which, to date, is his other career 1000-level title.