won against second seed Wawrinka and then beat Steve Johnson in the quarterfinals, both in straight sets. In the semifinal he was stopped again by the eventual champion Marin Čilić, after allowing re-breaks twice in the third set. With his performance, the Bulgarian secured the second spot in the 2016 US Open Series standings. In the following week, Dimitrov returned in top 30 of ATP ranking, jumping ten positions to No. 24 spot. Seeded 22nd, Dimitrov played in the 2016 US Open and reached the fourth round for a second time in his career after beating en route Íñigo Cervantes, Jérémy Chardy and João Sousa before losing in straight sets to second seed, Andy Murray, who allowed Dimitrov only five games in total. Dimitrov moved to Asia to play in the inaugural Chengdu Open. He was seeded third and reached the semifinals, where he lost to fifth seed Albert Ramos-Viñolas. The Bulgarian then went to the final of the Beijing event, beating Steve Johnson, sixth seed Lucas Pouille and gaining first victory over Rafael Nadal, who was ranked No. 4 at the moment. At the semifinals, the third seed, Milos Raonic, withdrew prior to the match with Dimitrov due to ankle injury. Dimitrov lost the final to No. 2, Andy Murray, in two tight sets. The Bulgarian then participated in the Shanghai Masters, where in the first round he overcame in straight sets 14th seed, Richard Gasquet, to whom Dimitrov had had a negative record of 0–5 losses, but in the second lost to qualifier Vasek Pospisil, who had never beaten Dimitrov. The Bulgarian returned to Europe and reached the semifinals in Stockholm, where he was stopped by the eventual champion Juan Martín del Potro. Dimitrov then played in Basel, but exited the event with a first round loss against Gilles Müller. In his last tournament for the season, the Paris Masters, Dimitrov lost in three sets to No. 1, Novak Djokovic in the third round. 2017: Major semifinal, Masters & ATP Finals titles, World No. 3 Ranked world No. 17, Dimitrov had a flying start to the season in Brisbane, reaching the final by defeating world No. 8, Dominic Thiem in the quarterfinals and then No. 3 and defending champion Milos Raonic in the semifinals. In the final he overcame world No. 5, Kei Nishikori, in three sets, winning his first ATP title in nearly three years, his last