Well, that was somewhat anti-climatic.

Although the big four continue to dominate the men’s circuit, there’s always been speculation of the “next four”, the players that might go to the top of the game after Federer and Nadal finish their careers.  Among the names that are most frequently mentioned are Bernard Tomic, Milos Raonic, and Ryan Harrison.  Occasionally, you would hear Grigor Dimitrov’s name, but his results were not so good until the middle of last year.

Nicknamed “Baby Fed”, Dimitrov, 21 years of age, has a game that seems clearly modeled after the Swiss maestro.  Obviously, the results aren’t the same.  Although Federer was a late bloomer, there were some thoughts he could become great, and had had some decent results by this age.

Dimitrov has been making steady progress.  Last year, he reached the semis of Queen’s, Bastad, and Gstaad, and the quarters of Basel, showing his affinity for playing well in Switzerland.  He reached the finals of Brisbane this year, but lost early in Sydney and the Australian Open.

In his match against del Potro, Dimitrov tried to move del Potro around, a tactic some try against the big Argentine whose movement isn’t spectacular but certainly not bad for a guy his height.  In that respect, he’s a bit more aggressive than Federer.  However, there are differences between him and the Swiss #2.  In particular, Federer is a better mover.  Dimitrov seemed to trip over himself a little reaching his spots.

Dimitrov also made some silly mistakes mostly on drop shots.  del Potro, meanwhile, had not dropped serve all tournament, and didn’t drop serve in this match.  Dimitrov was broken early in both sets, and had very few chances to break, thus making the match not nearly as interesting, as it could be.  del Potro was winning 70% of his first and second serves.

Once Federer was upset, the money was on del Potro to win the tournament, and he’s done his part by reaching the final.

The other semi, currently being played, is between Gilles Simon and Julien Benneteau who might be the best player never to have won a tournament.  Benneteau upset Federer yesterday.