Grigor Dimitrov destroyed Carlos Alcaraz’s dream of completing the Sunshine Double: the Bulgarian defeated the Spaniard in the semi-final of the Miami Open, playing incredible tennis.
Grigor dominated the match, annihilating the young Spaniard, both in rallies from the baseline, both on serve and in the net game.
“I think he played fantastic tennis, almost perfect, if I can use that term. I have not been able to find solutions. I couldn’t find a way to make him feel uncomfortable on the court. He played a great game. I think I played good tennis. I left the court thinking that I should have changed my game earlier, but I still feel like I played good tennis.
I’m very frustrated right now, because he made me feel like I was a 13 year old! It was crazy, I was talking to my team and saying: I don’t know what I have to do,” explained Alcaraz at the press conference.
Carlos Alcaraz on his loss to Grigor Dimitrov:
“He made me feel like I’m 13 years old.”
Ouch.
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) March 29, 2024
“Today I played better than the match played in Shanghai and the defeat I suffered last October 11th against Dimitrov. In China I made many mistakes. But I think he also played much better.
I need a few days to analyze everything, but we don’t have time. The season has just started and there are many tournaments. I have to train and I can’t wait to play the next tournament,” he said, complimenting Dimitrov for his exceptional performance.
Carlos Alcaraz© Al Bello / Staff Getty Images Sport
The match
Alcaraz was unable to contain his opponent’s aggression and found himself down 4-6, 1-4 in less than an hour without fully understanding how to try to contain his opponent.
The Spaniard’s reaction came at the right time, because he showed his pride in him in the sixth and seventh games and subsequently equalized the score, taking it to 4-4.
Dimitrov, however, did not let himself be influenced by the great wasted opportunity and found the break for the knockout in the tenth game.
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