More than one imagined, on Friday night, a high-voltage semifinal in the Masters 1000 de Miami between Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz, a rematch of the recent duel in Indian Wells. The German did his part and beat Hungarian Fabian Marozsan early. But, in the night duel, the one that completed the quarterfinals, Grigor Dimitrov He surprised and beat the number 2 in the world ranking by a resounding score: 6-2 and 6-4, in just over an hour and a half.
Located in 12th place in the weekly rankings, the Bulgarian rounded off a remarkable performance. Alcaraz, recent champion in Indian Wells, came into this match without giving up sets in his time on the Florida cement. But Dimitrov had other plans. The Bulgarian, who was two points away from defeat against Tabilo in the second round, has already entered the top four.
Before the eyes of soccer player Sergio Busquets, basketball player Jimmy Butler and Mike Tyson, among other notables in the center court of the Hard Rock Stadium, Dimitrov built a very valuable victory, one of the most important for his career in recent times. Alcaraz arrived in great shape, but the Bulgarian, first, accepted the demand for an intense and very physical match. He was aggressive in the game, took the initiative from the Spaniard, and began to pressure him with the return; When Alcaraz played with the second serve, he often found his opponent on the court, ready to play with a deep impact, and in that way he achieved several winners that left the Spaniard disconcerted. He also used quick points, and managed to carry the game at his own pace.
For that success, Dimitrov found support on serve (77 percent of first serves), and captured 4 of the 7 break-points he had. He went up to the net several times (he won 12 of 16 points), and despite taking a lot of risks, he only committed 14 unforced errors. Alcaraz tried to be close in the count, but the first set escaped him very quickly; Then he was 1-4 and, with an important clean and jerk, he managed to recover the break to tie 4-4. Dimitrov stopped the attempted attack in its tracks, won his serve, and in the tenth game he played to end the match early: a winning return, a point won at the net to leave the Spaniard 0-30, and he was left with match-point a parallel passing before a very high drop from Alcaraz. The Spaniard ended up saying goodbye with a wide right hand, frustrated by the Bulgarian’s attacks, he saw how a streak of nine consecutive victories ended, and without the objective of conquering the double known as ‘Sunshine Double’; that is, winning the two tour tournaments in California and Miami. The last to achieve it was Roger Federer, in 2017.
The best of the match
For Dimitrov, it was his second straight victory over the Spaniard, whom he had beaten at the end of last year at the Shanghai Masters 1000. Right-handed, with an exquisite one-handed backhand, the Bulgarian is 32 years old, has a lot of experience on the circuit, became number 3 in the world seven seasons ago and has 9 titles under his belt, including an ATP Finals in 2017, and a Masters 1000 in Cincinnati in the same season. Since then, he spent a long time without celebrations, until last January he ended the losing streak and established himself in Brisbane, then he was a finalist in Marseille and a semi-finalist in Rotterdam. Good numbers for a player with the ability to go far – he was fourth finalist in all the Grand Slams and semi-finalist in eight of the nine Masters 1000 -, and who now seems to have found another air for his career.
“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. I was able to dictate and read the game better than last time. Overall, I think it was a great match on my part. “I’m happy to have finished in straight sets,” added the 12th in the world.
Alcaraz was full of praise for his winner: “He played almost perfect tennis. I have not been able to find solutions, nor make him feel uncomfortable. I think I have played great tennis. I left the court feeling like I played well. I have told my team, that It made me feel like I was 13 years old.. What Grigor played was crazy. I don’t remember feeling this way. I didn’t know what to do, I had no weak points. I feel frustrated, but yes, the next time I face him I will try different things. With him playing at this level, it is very difficult to beat him.”
Thus, Dimitrov will face Zverev this Friday in the night session, at 8 p.m. in Argentina, who beat Marozsan 6-3 and 7-5. The first semi-final will be led by the Russian Daniil Medvedev and the Italian Jannik Sinner, a remake from last year’s final at the Miami Open, which the Muscovite then won. An even duel is expected, and the record favors Medvedev 6-4, but with the particularity that the Russian won the first six matches, and the Italian won the last four, including the final of the Australian Open, after coming from behind. two sets of handicap.