“I didn’t find any solutions, he was perfect”, Carlos Alcaraz praises the capital performance of Grigor Dimitrov, winner of the Spaniard in Miami

Grigor Dimitrov n’a pas laissé d’espoir au numéro 2 mondial. MAXPPP – CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH

En venant à bout de Carlos Alcaraz, en deux sets (6-2, 6-4) à Miami, Grigor Dimitrov a, une nouvelle fois, affiché un niveau exceptionnel, à l’image de ses derniers mois.

Age obviously has no effect on the Bulgarian, who will celebrate his 33rd birthday in a few weeks. Winner in Brisbane in January, Dimitrov returned to the top, six years after his last title. Since Wimbledon, he has continued to string together good performances, reaching the last four of several prestigious tournaments on numerous occasions, like Bercy, only defeated in the final by Novak Djokovic.

In Miami, and facing the world number 2, few saw him repeat the feat of eliminating him, as he was able to do in Shanghai last October. Spanish – in bad shape – had not seen the light of day against the Bulgarian, defeated in 2 sets. However, this Carlos Alcaraz had nothing to do with the one we met a few months ago. Defeated at the Australian Open by Alexander Zverev in 4 sets, the double Grand Slam winner recovered well, stringing together nine victories in a row, and a title at Indian Wells, where he notably beat the invincible Jannik Sinner.

Entry rout

But the Bulgarian's game plan was clear. Pressure put on the Spaniard from the start. Asphyxiated after only a few minutes of play, Dimitrov was already leading 3-0 in the first set. He finally won it. on the Spaniard’s serve, completely overwhelmed. "I went into the match very focused and I think I was very clear on what I had to do", explained the Bulgarian after his victory.

He made me feel like I was 13. You know, it was crazy

The Bulgarian took advantage of every opportunity, often going to the net and making Alcaraz run around the court. "To win against him, you have to play at his best level. It’s like this", Dimitrov said. "I came into the match very focused and I think I was very clear on what I needed to do", a- he added. "I have a lot of frustration at the moment, because he gave me the impression that I was 13 years old. You know, it was crazy, Alcaraz commented.

The Spaniard felt he played better than during his defeat against the Bulgarian in Shanghai in October. "In China, I made more mistakes, in the first and second ball, than today. I think he played even better today. He played very well. I didn't find any solutions in today's match. His playing was perfect", he said.

Grigor Dimitrov will try to reach the final in Miami against Alexander Zverev (4th in the world), winner of Fabian Marozsan (57th) in the quarter-finals. His only Masters 1,000 title dates back to 2017, winning against Nick Kyrgios in Cincinnati.