Grigor Dimitrov has revealed his methodology of beating Carlos Alcaraz as he knocked him out of the 2024 Miami Open quarterfinals.
The ATP #12 outlined the importance of drawing first blood against the Spaniard and issued a warning to his rivals by declaring that he will not back down.
Dimitrov played some scintillating tennis to overcome the 2-time GS Champion Alcaraz 6-2, 6-4 in the last 8 contest at the Floridian Masters on Thursday. Dashing the Sunshine double hopes of a motivated Alcaraz, Dimitrov with his aggressive approach has clearly cracked the code to beat the World No. 2 as he also defeated him in their last match at the Shanghai Masters in October. The Bulgarian now holds a 2-3 record against the 20-year-old.
The World No. 12 has now reached the semis of the three of the last four tournaments he played, having also qualified for the final four spot in Shanghai Open and Paris Masters last year. In his press conference, Dimitrov talked about dealing with the tough challenge Alcaraz brings in his matches.
“Well, I mean, of course when you win a match like that, you can say so (that you are in the zone), but again, Carlos is such — you know, I always call him like a firecracker. He’s amazing. I love watching him play,” the Bulgarian said.
“Honestly, I love watching him playing, I love practising against him, competing against him. I mean, I’m 12 years older than him. It’s honestly a lot of fun for me to challenge myself. It’s a great opportunity for me.
“Against him, you cannot really let him hit the ball. I think we saw what happened even when I was up a break in the second set of the game he broke me. It was straight up four forehands. Absolutely nothing I could have done.
“Can I get mad? Yeah, I can. But there was no, you know, there was no reason for me to kind of drift away. I just had to stay patient. I was aware of what was happening, how it was happening.
“And I knew that if I had another chance and opportunity, I could really, like, step in, and that would have given me another opportunity. That’s what happened I think in the last game. I didn’t pull back. I kept on believing in the game that I was playing, and again, the execution was very good.”
The former World No. 3 also highlighted the importance of aggressive approach required to neutralize the threat of Alcaraz’s dictating game.
“I think overall I like his game a lot. He’s, for me, one of the craftiest players out there. Sometimes I can put myself in his shoes in certain moments and I can kind of guess, so to speak, what might come, but what might come, it’s not like it will,” said Dimitrov.
“But as I said, he’s so explosive throughout the court, so you really need to put him in uncomfortable position. I think sometimes you need to deliver that power yourself in order to be able to sustain also his shots.
“So it’s a very interesting game sometimes, especially when you have delicate points. Sometimes you have to play a little bit cat-and-mouse to see who is going to hit that first shot. That is all in the game. I’m sure he feels it the same way.”
The 3-time Grand Slam semi-finalist also talked about how keeping things simple helped him thrive in Miami and vowed to stick to this clear plan moving forward.
“I think that’s the beauty of our game, and it’s always the most simple things are the most difficult to do. I think this is actually what I did tonight,” the 9-time ATP titlist said.
“I was just trying to do everything as simple as possible and any execution that I had, a sitting ball, ball to come in, ball to hit a slice, to do something with the ball, I was just on it.
“I think in a way, same thing tomorrow, the same thing every match that I’m going to be playing from now on. There is no pulling back.”
Dimitrov will be up against German ATP #5 Alexander Zverev in the Friday’s semifinal to secure another Masters final berth.