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Dimitrov to face Schwartzman in Istanbul Open

Grigor Dimitrov moved into his eighth ATP Tour final with victory over the big-serving Ivo Karlovic at the Istanbul Open on Saturday.
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Two strong tie-break performances handed Grigor Dimitrov a straight-sets success over Ivo Karlovic and a place in Sunday's Istanbul Open final.

Predictably, there was little to choose between the pair separated by just two places in the ATP rankings, but the Bulgarian had much the better of the contest when it mattered.

Both sets went to a tie-break, but Dimitrov showed his class, barely allowing Karlovic a look-in as he advanced 7-6 (7-0) 7-6 (7-2).

Dimitrov will meet Diego Schwartzman in the final, after he battled back from a set down to overcome fellow Argentinian Federico Delbonis 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-2.

Delbonis got the better of a tight first set, but Schwartzman improved vastly from that point, his charge towards taking the second set only delayed by a stray cat wandering onto the court.

That prompted Delbonis into a prolonged argument with the umpire, and the world number 36 seemingly lost his poise as Schwartzman went through the gears to book his first ATP final.

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