By Erik Gudris

Photo Credit: AFP/Patrick Kovarik

(July 13, 2012) -- For a young player bestowed with one of the most complimentary and likely most burdensome of comparisons to an elite player, Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov appears to finally be living up to some of the early hype that at times seemed to be just that -- hype.

With his stylish one-handed backhand that earned him the nickname "Baby Federer", Dimitrov, who turned pro in 2008, was tipped early as one to watch. But inconsistent results including this year that caused him to fall out of the top 100 briefly after he achieved a career high ranking of #52 last August had some wondering if Dimitrov would ever live up to all the high praise showered on him.

The Bulgarian, also known as "Grisha", had his best career win ever over Tomas Berdych in Miami earlier this spring but probably earned more attention for his grinding battle against Richard Gasquet in the second round of Roland Garros that saw Dimitrov collapse with muscle cramps after a long rally with the Frenchman.

But after impressing the London locals with his first ever semifinal showing at Queen's Club a few weeks ago, Dimitrov, now ranked #69, has backed that result up with another semifinal appearance this week at the SkiStar Swedish Open in Bastad as he takes on top seed David Ferrer tomorrow.

Does this mean that Dimitrov has turned the corner and ready to climb into the top 50 or higher? It's hard to say as questions still linger if he can stay physically with the top players, especially in a five set match along with some lingering doubts on his mental toughness.

Still, when asked by ATP.com in Paris about trying to reach the top 50, Dimitrov seemed ready to take a wait and see approach.

"It’s always nice to be consistent of course. Every player is traveling for that. I think if you are consistent and injury free and improve your game all the time, working on special things, you automatically become better. Everything is starting to become more fluid for you and automatically you win more matches, get more points and the ranking goes up. Personally, I think I can improve a bunch of things. I just have to take a little time. I’m not worried about it."