For the second year in a row, Carlos Alcaraz won the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Calif., and arrived at the Miami Open looking to complete the “Sunshine Double.”
And for the second consecutive season, Alcaraz stumbled in Miami.
Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov, the 11th seeded, ousted the top-seeded Spaniard 6-2, 6-4 on Thursday in the quarterfinals at Miami Gardens, Fla. Last year, Alcaraz was knocked out in the Miami Open semifinals.
Dimitrov advances to a semifinal matchup against Alexander Zverev. The fourth-seeded German rolled to a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Hungarian Fabian Marozsan in Thursday’s first quarterfinal.
Dimitrov prevailed by winning 77 percent of his first-serve points to Alcaraz’s 56 percent. Alcaraz converted just one of his five break points, while Dimitrov broke serve on half of his eight chances.
“I think overall to win against him you have to play at best, that’s just how it is,” Dimitrov said. “I came into the match very focused and I think (it was) extremely clear what I had to do.
“Sometimes simplicity is genius. It’s very, very hard to do it, especially when you play against an opponent like that, but I was really able to dictate the game, read the game a little bit better than last time. Overall, I think a very great match on my end and I’m just happy I finished in straight sets.”
Zverev recorded 20 winners in his quarterfinal win. He delivered six aces and won 80.4 percent of his first-serve points (37 of 46) while controlling the 97-minute match.
“I’m happy to be back in these late stages of these tournaments, playing the best players in the world, I think there are only those left,” Zverev said. “Looking forward to the challenge.”
This is Zverev’s best showing in Miami since losing to John Isner in the 2018 final.
Zverev was pushed in the second set with Marozsan serving in hopes of forcing a tiebreak. But Zverev won three straight points to end it.
Marozsan had 29 winners and eight aces while thoroughly impressing Zverev. The 24-year-old was competing in his second ATP 1000-level quarterfinal, the other coming in Shanghai in 2023.
“If he keeps playing like that, he’s going to rise up the rankings very quickly,” Zverev said. “He always rushes you. … I think when all top players feel like they are in control, they feel like they manage the match and play the match a little bit in their own favor and against him, it’s not possible. … He’s an unbelievable player.”
–Field Level Media
