Carlos Alcaraz expressed feeling like a “13-year-old” after being defeated by Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals of the Miami Open.
Dimitrov, from Bulgaria, secured a 6-2, 6-4 victory, advancing to the semi-finals where he will face Germany’s fourth seed, Alexander Zverev.
“He played amazing tennis, almost perfect,” said top seed Alcaraz, 20.
Carlos Alcaraz had set his sights on achieving the ‘Sunshine Double,’ aiming to become the first man since Roger Federer in 2017 to win back-to-back titles at Indian Wells and Miami.
But 11th seed Dimitrov upset the Spaniard and Alcaraz added: “I couldn’t find solutions. I couldn’t find a way to make him feel uncomfortable on the court. It was a great game from his side.
“It was crazy. I was talking to my team, saying that I don’t know what I have to do. I don’t know his weakness. I don’t know anything.”
Dimitrov took control of the match early on, breaking Alcaraz’s first service game and then securing another break at 5-2 to win the opening set.
Although Alcaraz staged a comeback in the second set after being down 4-1, Dimitrov managed to break him for a fourth time to secure a second successive win over the Spaniard. The match concluded in 92 minutes.
“To win against him, you have to play at your best – that’s just how it is,” said Dimitrov, who also beat Alcaraz at October’s Shanghai Masters.
“Sometimes simplicity is genius. It’s very hard to do it, especially when you play against an opponent like that, but I was able to dictate the game, read the game a bit better than the last time.”
Dimitrov will return will return to the top 10 for the first time since 2018 if he beats Zverev to reach the Miami final.