LONDON — Bulgarian fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov booked a Queen's Club final clash against Feliciano Lopez with an impressive 6-2, 6-4 win over world No. 3 Stan Wawrinka Saturday. Dimitrov is one of the emerging talents in the men's game and he underlined his growing reputation by overpowering top seed Wawrinka in just 61 minutes at the Wimbledon warm-up in west London. The world No. 13 can now look forward to his third ATP Tour final this season Sunday against Spanish 10th seed Lopez, who defeated Czech veteran Radek Stepanek 7-6 (9-7), 6-4 in the other semifinal. And if the 23-year-old lifts the trophy, it will go some way to silencing the critics who claim he should have fulfilled his potential by now. It's tough to define the word ‘breakthrough',” Dimitrov said. “Of course, you would want to be more consistent. I think that's more my word for it. “Sometimes people make a big deal out of the breakthrough. To me, it's just a stage that you've got to go through. “Some people find it very easy and acclimate themself pretty fast to the atmosphere and to the stage. Others it just takes time. Everyone is different.” Federer to face Falla In Germany, defending champion Roger Federer will bid for a seventh Halle title Sunday after beating Japan's Kei Nishikori 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) in the semifinal of the grasscourt tournament. Swiss Federer, ranked fourth in the world, will meet 69th-ranked Alejandro Falla in the title match after the Colombian earlier upset Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber in the first semifinal. Kohlschreiber, the 2011 winner, fell 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 to the 30-year-old South American. Federer, 32, kicked off his grasscourt campaign in Halle as he bids for a boost ahead of his latest assault on Wimbledon where he has been champion on seven occasions. Halle was the site of his only title in 2013 and is the tournament where he first appeared in 2005 as a 19-year-old. For Falla, it will be his second career ATP final, after losing to Ivo Karlovic of Croatia last year in Bogota, in only his second appearance at Halle after losing to Federer in the 2010 first round. Ivanovic eyes grass title In Birmingham, former French Open winner Ana Ivanovic, seven times a season-end top 20 player, at last moved closer to a dream by reaching the first grasscourt final of her career Saturday. The 26-year-old Serbian former world No. 1's thumping 6-2, 6-2 win over Zhang Shuai, the ninth seeded Chinese player, enhanced a claim she made at the start of this week's Birmingham Open that she is overcoming her insecurities on this surface. Ivanovic certainly hit ground strokes with stoppable force, especially from the forehand, and grew conspicuously in confidence against an opponent contesting her first Premier level event in only her second grasscourt tournament. Her imposing performance should make her an even stronger favorite for Sunday's final against Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, an unseeded Czech who will also be contesting her first grasscourt final after overcoming two rain delays and Casey Dellacqua, the 16th seeded Australian, by 7-6 (7-5), 6-1. “It would be wonderful to win a grasscourt title now,” Ivanovic said. “It would be a dream come true. And of course Wimbledon is still regarded as the most prestigious title of all.” — Agencies
