Semis cast now complete in MSBC caging
As the set went into a tiebreak, the Bulgarian surged ahead as he took a 5-2 lead but had to hold off his opponent as Sugita clawed back to within a point of levelling.
Dimitrov then sent a forehand into the corner to earn a pair of match points and advanced on his second with a service winner to end the resistance of the 41st-ranked Sugita.
"It was my first match in three weeks, and you're always a little rusty," said Dimitrov who has been dealing with a sore shoulder in recent weeks.
"I was trying to find rhythm. I faced a quality player and I'm happy with how things went for me today -- I was pain-free in my shoulder."
Last weekend's Montpellier champion Lucas Pouille exited in his opening match, losing 7-5, 6-4 to Andrey Rublev.
The Russian was joined in the second round at the Ahoy Arena by Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France, who advanced after just 15 minutes when compatriot Richard Gasquet, the Montpellier finalist, retired with a groin injury trailing 3-1.
Pouille lost in 93 minutes, hitting a dozen aces in defeat but losing serve four times.
The 34th-ranked Rublev owns his only career title from Umag last summer on clay. Herbert will play Russian Daniil Medvedev in the second round.
Robin Haase won an allDutch affair over Thiemo de Bakker 6-2, 6-2.
The Spartans bested In This Corner (ITC), 6864, to settle the Final Four rankings in the Monday Squad Basketball-Cebu (MSBC) Season 3 at the Casals Village gym in Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City.
Trailing by seven points at halftime,26-33, the Spartans turned the tables on ITC with a sizzling second-half offensive They outpointed ITC in the third, 18-15, then closed the match with a 24-16 bang to scrape through a four-point win.
Former collegiate standout Ian Ortega chalked up 21 points, Aristotle Alcos scored 16, while Kevin Labay and Perince Malana had 24 combined points for the Spartans, who will proceed to the semifinal round as the No.3 qualifier.
Noel Torrifiel topscored with 22 points for ITC, while Kevin Quilantang and James Cabilino charted 18 and 11 markers, respectively, in a losing effort.
Despite the setback, ITC still managed to book the fourth and last semis spot.
ITC has a mountain to climb though as they will face next the undefeated topseed Hard Court Kings.
The Spartans, on the other hand, will take on the second ranked Silogan Ni Gian in the other semifinal battle on February 19.
The Hard Court Kings will heavily depend on exvarsity stars Randy de la Pisa, Adrian Lao and Marc Anthony Ynoc, who also serves as team owner, while Silogan Ni Gian owned by Ian Gantuangco will count the most from Aldrin Batua and Jetleigh and Proctoso Miñoza.—