With Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev, and Alexander Zverev winning their respective quarter-final matches at the Miami Open 2024, fans were almost certain that Carlos Alcaraz would also emerge victorious and create history. However, Grigor Dimitrov clinched a huge win against the Spaniard and took away the chance from the top seed to make history.
Had Carlos Alcaraz emerged victorious in his quarter-final encounter at the Miami Open 2024, for the first time in the ATP 1000 tournament, all the top 4 seeds would’ve been playing in the semifinals.
Entering the bout, the 20-year-old was touted as the favorite. However, Grigor Dimitrov clinched a dominating 6-2 win in the first set and followed it by a 6-4 performance in the second set, to clinch a spot in the semifinals.
The loss comes as even more shocking considering that Alcaraz was highly regarded as the favorite to win the Miami Open 2024 and become only the 8th man in ATP Tour history to complete the Sunshine Double.
As bizarre as it may sound, the Indian Wells Masters 2024 winner had no game plan as to how he would get past the Bulgarian. Apart from not knowing Dimitrov’s weaknesses, Carlitos also revealed that his opponent had an “almost perfect” performance.
“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,” Alcaraz said to the ATP Tour.
“He made me feel like I’m 13 years old!”
Alcaraz reflects on his loss to Dimitrov at the #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/mj1W4RGnzS
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 29, 2024
With Carlos Alcaraz out, who is the favorite to win the Miami Open 2024?
Carlos Alcaraz was the strong favorite to win the Miami Open 2024. Following his loss, the gate is now open for the others to lift the title. All eyes will now turn to Jannik Sinner, who has had an incredible year with a 20-1 YTD.
Apart from being in sublime form this season, Sinner defeated Daniil Medvedev – his opponent for the semifinals – earlier this year, during the Australian Open 2024 finals.
After advancing to the finals, the Italian is likely to have less trouble in defeating Dimitrov. After losing in their first meeting in 2020, Sinner has been successful on both occasions in 2023. However, if Zverev beats Dimitrov in the semifinals, the German could pose a threat to the 22-year-old, who has won four straight encounters in their head-to-head matchups.
Considering Sinner’s form though, he will be expected to snap this losing streak and lift the Miami Open 2024 title.
