Top-seeded Grigor Dimitrov moved closer to securing his first appearance in the Nitto ATP Finals with a tightly contested victory over qualifier Jerzy Janowicz, 7-5, 7-6(5) in the second round of the Intrum Stockholm Open on Thursday. The 2013 champion struck nine aces and dropped just five points on his first serve to triumph and begin his campaign toward another title in Sweden.

“I knew it was going to come down to a few points in the first or the second set,” said Dimitrov, who entered the match holding a 2-2 record in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Janowicz. “He’s a super-talented player, especially indoors. He served unbelievable, so I was struggling quite a bit to find my way around the return area but each game I just really had to stay positive, stay pumped and I just really had to focus on my game because I couldn’t afford myself to be negative or to have a loose point.”

Dimitrov, this year’s Brisbane, Sofia and Cincinnati winner, currently sits at No. 6 in the Emirates ATP Race To London with 3,455 points and is second in line to qualify for the year-end event behind No. 5 Marin Cilic, who has 3,535 points. The 26-year-old is attempting to win four titles in a season for the first time in his career. He is the highest-ranked player in the Race yet to qualify for London who is in action this week.

While the scoreline indicates that there was little between the two opponents, Dimitrov controlled play in the first set, dropping only three points on his serve until breaking to win the opener, never allowing the Pole to dictate play in return games. The second set was more tense, with Janowicz consistently forcing return errors, facing only one break point in the set. However, he earned his only two break points of the match at 1-1, and was unable to convert. Dimitrov trailed just once in the tie-break at 1-2, and would go on to capitalise on his third match point.

He will have a different style of opponent in the quarter-finals in serve and volleying left-hander Mischa Zverev, the fifth seed. The German eliminated Viktor Troicki, 6-2, 6-3 in 68 minutes.

Another player seeking a London bid is Juan Martin del Potro, who strengthened his outside hopes with a 6-2, 7-6(5) victory over Jan-Lennard Struff in the last match of the day.

The defending champion entered the week No. 18 in the Race with 1,885 points, but his victory moved him to No. 16 with 1,930 points as he continued a late-season charge in which del Potro has advanced to the semi-finals of both the US Open and the Shanghai Rolex Masters. He is in pursuit of his first title of the season, and his 20th overall.

The Argentine will next face seventh seed Yuichi Sugita, who battled past 2009 champion Marcos Baghdatis, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

With del Potro’s win, the top eight seeds advanced to the quarter-finals of an ATP World Tour event for the first time since the 2016 Garanti Koza Sofia Open. 

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Karen Khachanov will compete at the Next Gen ATP Finals next month, joining fellow Russian Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev of Germany at the inaugural event, to be held 7-11 November in Milan. Khachanov qualified based on results at ATP World Tour 250 events on Thursday.

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The 20-year-old Moscow native has received rave reviews from the tennis world this year, his second season on the ATP World Tour. The 6’6” right-hander has reminded longtime tennis fans and pundits of another big-hitting and quick-moving Russian, 6’4” Marat Safin, who reached No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and won 15 tour-level titles before retiring in November 2009.

Khachanov celebrated his first ATP World Tour title more than a year ago, at the Chengdu Open in China. He backed up his maiden crown this season, reaching four quarter-finals – Barcelona, Lyon, Bastad and Hamburg – and the semi-finals at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle (l. to Federer). Khachanov also performed well on the game’s biggest stages, reaching the fourth round at Roland Garros and the third round at Wimbledon. He also made the third round at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Cincinnati in August (l. to Sugita).

With Khachanov, Rublev and Zverev qualified, four qualification spots now remain in the eight-player Next Gen ATP Finals. Seven of the eight spots will be determined by the Emirates ATP Race To Milan, which ends on 30 October. The eighth spot will be given to the winner of an Italian 21-and-under tournament.

South African Kevin Anderson stepped up his bid on Thursday for one of the four remaining places at the Nitto ATP Finals when he knocked out #NextGenATP South Korean Hyeon Chung 6-3, 6-2 for a place in the Intrum Stockholm Open quarter-finals. The second seed struck 18 aces and won 28 of his 32 first-service points to improve to a 32-18 mark on the season.

“In the beginning I felt I was hitting the ball great and I was creating opportunities,” said Anderson. “He was hanging in there and it took me quite a few attempts to break serve. He defends so well and is a great athlete, so for me to come off the court with that scoreline feels good.” He will next face Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.

Anderson, this year’s US Open and Citi Open finalist, is at No. 12 in the Emirates ATP Race To London with 2,450 points — 155 points behind ninth-placed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain, who sits in the final qualification berth for the season finale, to be held at The O2 in London from 12-19 November. Chung is No. 8 in Emirates ATP Race To Milan for a spot at next month’s inaugural 21-and-under Next Gen ATP Finals with 760 points, having been overtaken by Russian Daniil Medvedev (772 points) who won today at the VTB Kremlin Cup. Medvedev knocked out Carreno Busta in Moscow.

Fifth-seeded German wild card Mischa Zverev will take on top seed and 2013 champion Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria or Polish qualifier Jerzy Janowicz after he moved past Viktor Troicki 6-2, 6-3.

Elsewhere, seventh-seeded Japanese Yuichi Sugita recorded his 22nd match win of a career-best season by knocking out 2009 champion Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in one hour and 49 minutes. The Antalya Open titlist will now face fourth seed and defending champion Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina or Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff on Friday.

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The 2017 BNP Paribas Open, the largest ATP World Tour and WTA combined two-week event in the world, held at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden this past March, generated an estimated total gross economic impact on the Coachella Valley regional economy of $406,602,107.

This represents an increase of more than $32 million since 2014, when the last BNP Paribas Open economic impact study was conducted and the estimated total gross economic impact was $373 million. Since a 2006 study, there has been an increase of more than $187 million in economic impact.

“The positive impact of the BNP Paribas Open on the city of Indian Wells and the entire region continues to grow each year, bringing not only economic but also cultural and social benefits to our residents, visitors and guests,” said Richard Balocco, the mayor of the City of Indian Wells. “We look forward to working together with the tournament for years to come to continue showcasing all that Indian Wells has to offer and providing a top-notch experience for all tournament patrons.”

Total gross economic impact is derived by calculating the direct ($262,323,940) and indirect and induced ($144,278,167) economic impacts and then adding them together to show the incremental spending above and beyond what would have been expected had the BNP Paribas Open not been held in the area. Direct spending includes money spent by out-of-town visitors, vendors, sponsors, and the tournament organization to a business in the region. Indirect and induced impact is the re-spending of this money by the regional businesses in the regional economy.

The tournament also studied the impact that the renovations to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden had on the 2017 tournament, and when this is factored into the equation, the gross economic impact rose to $466,943,364. Based on the total direct economic impact, the full-time equivalents of those employed by the event is estimated at 5,015 and 5,759 when considering the facility construction as well.

A total of 439,261 fans attended the tournament over the two-week period earlier this year. On average each person attended the tournament 3.09 days. An impressive 87 percent of all unique spectators traveled from outside the region equating to 123,675 out-of-town visitors from which the economic impact is calculated.

The total fiscal impact of the BNP Paribas Open on the Coachella Valley was estimated at just over $19,000,000, generated through tax revenues for city and county governments in the form of sales tax, Transient Occupancy Tax and property tax.

“The BNP Paribas Open consistently attracts record-breaking numbers of visitors from all over the country and the world who come to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden to experience the best in not only tennis, but also dining and entertainment,” said Piero Pierattoni, the owner of Piero’s PizzaVino and Mamma Gina. “We’re thrilled to deliver on those expectations year-after-year, and look forward to the continued mutual growth and success.”

The study, conducted by The George Washington University, uses estimates for direct and indirect impact that are based on industry standard methodology, visitor survey results, and the data provided by the organizers and sponsors.

Daniil Medvedev ensured that it will be a close finish in the battle to qualify for next month’s inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan when the #NextGenATP Russian caused an upset at the VTB Kremlin Cup on Thursday.

The 21-year-old Medvedev played with great poise to overcome top-seeded Spaniard and defending champion Pablo Carreno Busta, vying for a place at the Nitto ATP Finals in London, 6-3, 6-3 in 81 minutes.

“I’m very happy to have beaten Pablo, someone who is attempting to qualify for the [Nitto] ATP Finals,” said Medvedev. “I’m happy with the way I’m feeling on the court. I was serving well and I was only disappointed that I couldn’t hold the first break in the second set.”

The result moves Medvedev up one spot to No. 7 in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan — and into a qualification berth — on 772 points, after Hyeon Chung (760 points) lost to Kevin Anderson at the Intrum Stockholm Open today. Carreno Busta remains at No. 9 in the Emirates ATP Race To London.

Medvedev now plays Bosnia and Herzegovinan qualifier Mirza Basic, who was solid on serve to breeze into his first ATP World Tour quarter-final with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Laslo Djere of Serbia in 46 minutes.

Carreno Busta was not the only favourite to lose Thursday, as #NextGenATP Alexander Bublik continued his tremendous Moscow run by eliminating second seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.

“It feels amazing, one of the best feelings in my life,” Bublik said. “Now I feel like maybe I could be there [in Milan].”

The lucky loser maintained his faint hopes in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan, saving a break point while down 4-6, 3-3 before capturing 10 of the final 14 games to earn the third Top 25 victory of his career. He advances to his second ATP World Tour quarter-final (2016 Moscow). Bublik now has 504 points in the Race and has moved up to the No. 11 spot.  

The Kazakh will next face Ricardas Berankis, who overcame Serbian Filip Krajinovic, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 in one hour, 55 minutes.

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Second seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who is bidding to capture his 16th ATP World Tour title this week, moved into his eighth quarter-final (or better) this year by beating fellow Frenchman and qualifier Kenny De Schepper 6-4, 6-3 in 88 minutes at the European Open.

Tsonga, who is 30-13 on the season, will next face another compatriot, 35-year-old Julien Benneteau. Tsonga has already lifted silverware in 2017 at the ABM AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam (d. Goffin), the Open 13 in Marseille (d. Pouille) and the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Lyon in Lyon (d. Berdych).

David Goffin maintained his good form, also advancing to the quarter-finals with a 7-6(1), 6-2 win against #NextGenATP Frances Tiafoe. The Belgian, who won back-to-back titles at the Shenzhen Open and the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2017, is in the No. 8 slot in the Emirates ATP Race To London with 2,750 points. He seeks his second appearance at The O2 in London after appearing last year as an alternate, playing Novak Djokovic.

Goffin was broken in just his second service game of the match, but managed to retrieve it immediately. He then staved off four Tiafoe break opportunities later in the set before surging to a 6/0 lead in the tie-break, an advantage he did not relinquish. The 26 year old lost just three points on serve in the second set, winning double the number of points.

The Belgian stalled Tiafoe’s bid in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan. The American is No. 9 in the race with 662 points, currently 110 points behind Daniil Medvedev, who won on Thursday in Moscow to jump into seventh, the final automatic qualifying spot.

One player who also bolstered his chances in the same Race in Antwerp was Goffin’s next opponent, #NextGenATP and Greek qualifier Stefanos Tsitsipas, who booked a spot in his first ATP World Tour quarter-final on Thursday when leading Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 7-6(4), 5-6. Karlovic retired after injuring his left ankle while serving. 

Fourth seed and last year’s finalist Diego Schwartzman needed one hour and 41 minutes to beat #NextGenATP American Ernesto Escobedo 6-3, 7-6(5) for a place in the quarter-finals against fifth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer, who beat Steve Darcis, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.

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