The 15th-ranked Dimitrov advanced in the quarter finals after he ended Denis Istomin’s Cinderella run this past Monday, 2-6 7-6(2) 6-2 6-1. It’s his second QF appearance in the Australian Open in three years.
Additionally, he has won his last four matches at a QF stage (China Open, Chengdu Open, Brisbane International, and Cincinnati Masters).
With the win, he retained his hot streak this 2017, as he is now 9-0 on the year (all hard surface), which includes his championship in the recently-concluded Brisbane International.
Though four spots lower than Goffin in the standings, the Bulgarian is way ahead in the head-to-head battle, 4-0. In their most recent meeting (2014 US Open), Dimitrov came back from an ugly first set (where he lost 0-6) to record a 0-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 victory.
Dimitrov’s career win-loss card in the AO is 13-6 (64.7 winning percentage).
The 11th-ranked Goffin eased past opponents in the second and third round, winning in straight sets against Radek Stepanek and Ivo Karlovic, respectively. He then got a pretty great challenge in the next round, as he grinded out a hard-fought victory over eighth-seeded Dominic Thien, 5-7 7-6(4) 6-2 6-2.
Goffin, as mentioned, is yet to find success when facing Dimitrov. He fell off bad in their previous meeting, as he lost in four sets after soundly dominating the first one, 6-0. Their other three battles had some similarities – he got bounced in straight sets twice, while in the other, he lost after capturing the opening set.
If you want to put some dough in the Belgian despite all of that, here are two facts you might like: he’s 12-3 in his last 15 matches on a hard surface and he has also won four of his last five matches on a QF stage, and that one loss was against number one-ranked Andy Murray.
