Carlos Alcaraz’s hopes of a Sunshine Double were dashed in spectacular fashion after the top seed lost 6-2, 6-4 on Thursday to Grigor Dimitrov, who will face Alexander Zverev in the semifinals of the Miami Open.
Dimitrov, the 11th seed, won 77% of his first serves, compared to just 56% for Alcaraz. He also won four of the five break points he faced, breaking the Spaniard four times during the 92-minute encounter.
It was a crushing defeat for Alcaraz, who arrived in Miami full of confidence after capturing the Indian Wells title 11 days ago but fell three wins short of becoming the first male player to win the Sunshine Double since Roger Federer in 2017.
“To beat him, you have to play your best. That’s just the way it is,” Dimitrov said after his second victory over world number 2 Alcaraz in as many meetings. “I came into the match focused and I think it was very clear what I had to do.
“Sometimes simplicity is genius. It’s very difficult to do it, especially when you’re playing against such an opponent, but I was able to dictate the game, read the game a little better than last time.”
Next up for Dimitrov is German fourth seed Zverev, who overcame difficult conditions to beat Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan 6-3, 7-5 in the first match of the day on the stadium pitch.
Zverev attacked Marozsan’s serve and converted three of his seven break point chances, batting aside the two break points he faced and winning 80% of his first-serve points en route to the last four in Miami, where he yet to drop another set.
In windy conditions, Zverev had his hands full with Marozsan, who makes his Miami debut and ran into top 10 players Holger Rune and Alex de Minaur on his way to the quarter-finals.
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“If he keeps playing like that, he will rise up the rankings very quickly and he will be one of those (top-10) guys himself,” Zverev said.
Zverev’s win, sealed with a break when he unleashed a brilliant backhand down the line, marked his return to the semifinals of the Miami Open for the first time since finishing second in 2018.