Delray Beach, Florida, USA , 19 February 2022 | Vivienne Christie

John Millman will contest his first ATP-level semifinal since October 2020 after an upset of No.3 seed Grigor Dimitrov at the Delray Beach Open.

The 91^st-ranked Millman recorded a 6-4 6-4 win over world No.26 Dimitrov to set up a showdown with Reilly Opelka.

Millman last progressed to the semifinals of Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, where he went on to claim a first ATP title.

The Australian progressed at the ATP 250 tournament in Florida with an all-round solid performance against Dimitrov.

He gained an ascendancy in the 46-minute first set with a break in the ninth game and recovered from a dropped service break early in the second.

Clawing back from a 0-3 deficit, Millman gained another break in the ninth game and consolidated to secure victory after 94 minutes.

Magnificent Millman 🙌

Big win for Johnny as he takes down Dimitrov 6-4 6-4 to secure a spot in the semi-finals in Delray!@DelrayBeachOpen pic.twitter.com/FEveyxUaEt

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 19, 2022

“I weathered a few little storms there and managed to hold my nerve there at the end,” said Millman, who noted Dimitrov’s consistent dominance.

“He’s been a good player for so long. You have to come out here and you have to play good tennis.

“You have to take care of your service games and you have to play quality from the back of the court because he’s so good at transitioning.”

With wins this week over Maxime Cressy and Marcos Giron, Millman will aim to maintain momentum against top-20 ranked Opelka.

The 211 cm-American is a Delray Beach local, who last week claimed a third career singles title in Dallas.

“Obviously Reilly’s a local here and super confident coming off a win in Dallas and had such a good 2021. Not too dissimilar to Maxime Cressy, who I played first round,” said Millman of the second-seeded Opelka.

“I’m going to have to look after my service games and Reilly’s got one of the best serves on tour and he’s also a really good guy.

“I’m going to compete like I always do, and we’ll see if we can win a couple more.”

RESULTS
Men’s singles, quarterfinals
John Millman (AUS) d [3] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 6-4 6-4

COMING UP
Men’s singles, semifinals
John Millman (AUS) v [2] Reilly Opelka (USA)