Titular clash
Murray, Dimitrov ease through final
BEIJING — Andy Murray and Grigor Dimitrov eased into the final of the China Open on Saturday — one of them without playing.
Top-seeded Murray beat fifth-seeded David Ferrer 6-2, 6-3 to reach his ninth final of the season, while Dimitrov advanced with a walkover against third-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada.
Murray lost his serve to go 2-1 down before winning five straight games to take the opening set. He has yet to drop a set this week.
Murray, who took over the No. 1 seeding when Novak Djokovic withdrew, is at the China Open for the third time, and has improved each time: He reached the quarterfinals on debut, and the semifinals in 2014.
Dimitrov had a walk- over against Raonic, who injured his ankle during his quarterfinal victory against Pablo Carreno Busta on Friday.
Murray leads Dimitrov 7-3 in head-to-head meetings.
On the women's side, Johanna Konta assured herself of a place in the next WTA top-10 rankings — the first British woman to do so since Jo Durie in 1984 — after defeating Madison Keys in three sets.
The 11th-seeded Konta beat eighth-seeded Keys 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-4 with the American winning only 37 percent of points on her second service.
Ranked 14th, Konta faces Agnieszka Radwanska in the final. The third-seeded Pole beat 16th-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 7-6 (3), 6-3. AP