Grigor Dimitrov will contest his sixth Brisbane International semifinal after Australian Jordan Thompson’s mid-match retirement for a right lower leg injury on Friday.
The reigning men’s champion had snared an early break and was in command before Thompson twice had treatment on his right calf muscle before he pulled the pin at 6-1 2-1 after 43 minutes.
On track for back-to-back.
Ahead 6-4 2-1, @GrigorDimitrov advances to the #BrisbaneTennis semifinals after Jordan Thompson retires due to injury. pic.twitter.com/3Whb56ShEN
— Brisbane International (@BrisbaneTennis) January 3, 2025
Dimitrov had split his two prior meetings with the world No.29, including a straight-sets win in the semifinals of last year’s Brisbane International on his way to a first career trophy in seven years.
“I was just trying to focus on my game. Honestly its’ very, very unfortunate for him. I hope he’s ready for the Aussie Open,” the Bulgarian said. “Not much to say, I just came out here to compete, to go through my motions on the court and yeah, I think from the beginning I was in very good control of the match.
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“I thought I was moving very well, serve was on point. All these things are giving me a lot of confidence. After that first break in the first set, I slowly started to pick my pace a little bit more. That’s the end result, unfortunately.”
The 33-year-old moved on to a showdown with in-form Czech Jiri Lehecka, a player 10 years his junior, who was an earlier 6-4 6-4 winner over Chilean Nicolas Jarry.