Grigor Dimitrov reached the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday after producing an inspired performance that surprised top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz.
Alcaraz won three games in a row to claim the first set, but the brilliant Bulgarian bounced back in style to claim his biggest victory in years with a 5-7 6-2 6-4 triumph.
The 32-year-old, under the watch of coach Jamie Delgado, unsettled Alcaraz throughout the match, scoring 26 winners, including 10 aces, to defeat the Spaniard in two hours and nine minutes.
“I stayed in the match. I served very well but I made a few mistakes in the first set,” Dimitrov said. “I was running out of opportunities but I started to understand his service game and was solid in the third set.
“I knew what I had to do and I knew I had to put constant pressure on him.
“I never left – 15 more years here. I’m not going anywhere.”
Dimitrov will next face the birthday boy Nicolas Jarrywho beat wild card Diego Schwartzman 6-3 5-7 6-3 to advance.
Jarry became only the fifth Chilean to reach an ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final, after Marcelo Rios, Fernando Gonzalez, Nicolas Massu and Cristian Garin.
Ugo Humbert defeated American JJ Wolf to a loss of just three games in their fourth round encounter.
Frenchman Humbert took just 58 minutes to defeat the world number 51, racking up an impressive seven love games on his own and Wolf’s serve.
The 6-1 6-2 victory took Humbert through to the quarter-finals, where he will face Andrei Rublev Or Tommy Paul.
Humbert reached his fifth ATP quarterfinal in 2023 and his first ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal since the 2020 Paris Masters.