MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Just when it seemed like Carlos Alcaraz was back on track, along came Grigor Dimitrov.
Dimitrov, the Bulgarian veteran who earned the impossible nickname “Baby Fed” early in his career, dominated Alcaraz on a hot and windy night in South Florida at the Miami Open. Alcaraz was on his heels from the start and quickly fell behind as Dimitrov unleashed a vigorous shootout of winners, handing Alcaraz a lopsided 6-2, 6-4 defeat that was about as dominant as the scoreline suggested.
Taking advantage of an unexpected night off for Alcaraz, Dimitrov did everything better than the Spanish champion who was trying to complete the second half of the “Sunshine Double” after winning the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells earlier this month. Playing in front of a capacity crowd in the temporary tennis facilities squeezed into Hard Rock Stadium, Dimitrov delivered the show the crowd expected to see from Alcaraz – and with a flashy one-handed backhand to boot.
Grigor Dimitrov is until #MiamiOpen Semi-finals for the first time!
The Bulgarian earns a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Alcaraz and will next face Zverev. pic.twitter.com/QMVdj2p52t
– Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) March 29, 2024
Dimitrov jumped onto the court to gain the upper hand on Alcaraz’s serve, the weakest part of his game. He crossed it to catch Alcaraz’s attempts to paint the lines. And he sprinted to the net again and again to catch sloppy shots that Alcaraz floated too high or too deep, or both, then punished the 20-year-old Spanish champion for his mistakes.
For top seed Alcaraz, the defeat was a surprising setback as he seemed to have left behind the strange defeats of recent months with his victory at Indian Wells, the so-called Fifth Slam, where he rediscovered the joy, the power and the electrifying variety. who have captivated the sport since bursting onto the scene three years ago.
This version of Alcaraz came to life briefly at the end of the second set, when he was one point away from losing two breaks of serve, but managed to survive. Then he got the match back on serve in the next game, thanks in part to a blistering forehand that caught the outside edge of the line.
“He fired four rockets at me,” Dimitrov said.
But Dimitrov stabilized and, leading 5-4, regained the aggression and speed that had put him in the lead. He pounced on Alcaraz’s serves once more, caught a drop shot and converted it into a down-the-line winner, then forced Alcaraz to send a final forehand wide and raise his arms in the air.
Alcaraz and the rest of the sport will head into the clay court season, which he will likely begin in Monte Carlo next month. This is the surface that could prove best for him since he grew up on the red clay of Spain. But he has yet to win the only Grand Slam contested on the surface, Roland Garros, and he probably has work to do to get his game back into shape where he is not vulnerable to defeats against players he should beat.
Dimitrov will face Alexander Zverev in the semi-final on Friday, while Jannik Sinner will face Daniil Medvedev in the other semi-final.
Alcaraz said he wasn’t that upset by his own level and was largely impressed by the near-perfect performance delivered by Dimitrov. He searched all night for solutions but could not find them.
“I have a lot of frustration right now,” Alcaraz said after the match. “He made me feel like I was 13.”
He is more aware than anyone of the challenge that awaits him and the expectations that everyone has for him and that he has for himself, especially after several months where he struggled to enjoy competing and playing the game that he likes.
“There’s no time to duck right now,” he said. “There are a lot of tournaments. The season has just started. I have to train, find the power, let’s say, to continue to train well, enjoy training and really look forward to playing the next tournament.
(Photo: Geoff Burke / USA Today)