The Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz, first seed at the Miami Open, was eliminated on Thursday at the hands of Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals of this Masters 1000 tournament.
Alcaraz, number two in the world ranking, found no answers before an exhibition of play by Dimitrov (12th), who took the victory by a resounding 6-2 and 6-4 in one hour and 32 minutes.
The Spaniard, who this month won his fifth Masters 1000 title in Indian Wells, saw his streak of nine consecutive victories broken and his goal of being the first Spaniard to win the double of titles known as 'Sunshine Double'.
Dimitrov, on his side, will fight for a place in the Miami final against the German Alexander Zverev. The other ticket will be fought between Daniil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner, in a repeat of the 2023 final in which the Russian tennis player won.
The unexpected defeat of Alcaraz, who barely made an attempt to come back in the second set, prevented Miami from experiencing a semi-final for the first time made up of the four seeds. Alcaraz had an unusually subdued and erratic performance in a tournament in which he had not dropped a single set until now.
In Miami, where in 2022 he inaugurated his harvest of Masters 1000 crowns, he had also banished the pain of the ankle injury that forced him to abandon in February in Rio de Janeiro.
On Thursday, however, he crashed against the best version of Dimitrov, a 32-year-old player who was ranked third in the ATP.
“To beat Carlos you have to play at your best level“stressed Dimitrov, who had lost three of his four previous duels with the Murcian. “I entered the game very focused and with very clear ideas about what I had to do,” he stated.
“I was able to dictate and read the game better than last time. Overall, a great match on my part. I'm happy to have finished in straight sets,” he noted.
The Bulgarian, whose only Masters 1000 victory dates back to 2017 in Cincinnati, not only neutralized four of Alcaraz's scarce five break balls but also won several spectacular exchanges, an area where the Spanish prodigy usually shines.
Alcaraz and if an attempt at a comeback
The Miami crowd tried to cheer Alcaraz on when his serve began to falter early in the match, allowing Dimitrov to take a 3-0 lead in the opening set. Frustration quickly took over Alcaraz and, after missing a forehand, he shouted several times at his box, where his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero was trying to guide him out of the rut.
Dimitrov's inspiration even earned the applause of Alcaraz himself after a brilliant hit. Alcaraz's ordeal was followed from the stands by sports personalities such as Mike Tyson or Jimmy Butler, the star of the NBA's Miami Heat, a regular presence at the Spaniard's games in his city.
Dimitrov sealed the first set with a second break and maintained the initiative at the start of the second until he was 4-1 ahead.
Against the ropes, Alcaraz struggled until he found flashes of his tennis and chained three games in a row to tie the set amid cries of self-motivation. But Dimitrov stood firm against the attempted comeback, held his serve and certified the victory before Alcaraz could get into the rhythm.
AFP
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