World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz was eliminated by Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open on Thursday. Dimitrov played sparkling and dynamic tennis to defeat Spain’s top seed and will now face Germany’s Alexander Zverev for a place in the final. German player Zverev defeated Hungarian player Fabian Marossan 6-3, 7-5 to advance to the semifinals. Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev will compete in the other semi-final – a rematch of the Australian Open final that Sinner won in January.
Alcaraz came to Miami after winning the title in Indian Wells, and his goal was the Sunshine Double.
But Dimitrov, who also defeated the Spaniard in the fourth round in Shanghai, was undaunted from the start, attacking Alcaraz and breaking serve early to take a 3-0 lead.
The Bulgarian took advantage of every opportunity, scoring frequently and moving Alkaraz around the pitch.
After breaking the Spaniard in the fourth game and holding a 4-1 lead, he looked set to win in two sets with ease.
But Alcaraz had no intention of coming back, and at the end of an interesting confrontation, he smashed a cross-court winner and then broke serve to make it 4-3.
With the match back on serve, a tiebreak seemed inevitable. But as Alcaraz served to hold the match, Dimitrov broke the Spaniard as he stepped out of bounds and Dimitrov raised his arms in celebration.
“To beat him, you have to be at your best. That’s the way it is,” Dimitrov said.
“I went into the game very focused and I knew exactly what I had to do. Sometimes simplicity is genius. It’s very, very difficult to do that, especially when you play against opponents like this. But I was really able to make the decisions Contest,
“Honestly, it was a very, very good match for me. I’m happy that I finished the match in straight sets for the first time,” he joked.
Alcaraz admitted he had no reaction to Dimitrov’s outstanding performance.
“I have a lot of frustration right now because he makes me feel like I’m 13 years old. You know, it’s crazy,” Alcaraz said.
“I said to my team, I don’t know what I have to do. I don’t know, you know, his weaknesses. I don’t know anything. That’s why I’m frustrated right now.”
Alcaraz said he thought he was playing better than when he lost to the Bulgarians in Shanghai in October.
“In China, I made more mistakes in the first ball, the second ball than today. I thought he played better today. He played great. I couldn’t find a solution in today’s game. He The game was perfect,” he said.
Zverev, ranked fifth in the world, knows he has to be wary of Marozsan, who is ranked 57th but has beaten Holger Ruhn and Alex De Minaur in this tournament , with two top-10 wins and a top-40 finish.
big serve
But the Hungarian struggled to cope with Zverev’s big serve in the first set and couldn’t find his rhythm.
In the second set, the pair had few options as the Hungarian continued to put pressure on Zverev.
But Marozsan missed some key points on his way to the net late in the set and was ultimately broken in the final service game.
Zverev is delighted to have the opportunity to return to the final.
“I mean, I love Miami, I always say that, and obviously I’m excited to get back in the latter stages of these tournaments and play against the best players in the world. I think that’s all that’s left and I’m looking to embrace Challenge,” he said.
The German was full of praise for his opponent and is expected to continue to climb the rankings.
“If he keeps playing like this, he will move up the rankings very quickly and he will become one of them,” he said.
“He’s always pushing our good players. All the top players, when they take control of the game, they feel like they can take control of the game, manipulate the game a little bit to their advantage, and with him that’s not possible.
“So I think that’s why he has such a great top-10 record. He’s an unbelievable player.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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