Dimitrov stuns Alcaraz to enter Miami semifinal

World No 2 Carlos Alcaraz was knocked out of the Miami Open quarterfinals on Thursday, beaten 6-2, 6-4 by Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. Dimitrov played sparkling and energetic tennis to beat the Spanish top seed and will now face Germany’s Alexander Zverev for a place in the final. Germany’s Zverev held off rising Hungarian Fabian Marozsan 6-3, 7-5 to book his place in the semis. Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev will play in the other semifinal – a rematch of the Australian Open final won by Sinner in January. Alcaraz came into Miami on the back of his title in Indian Wells and with his sights set on the “Sunshine Double”. But from the outset, Dimitrov, who also beat Alcaraz in the fourth round in Shanghai, showed no fear as he attacked Alcaraz and broke early to take a 3-0 lead. The Bulgarian pounced on every opportunity, coming to the net frequently and moving Alcaraz around the court. He looked to be on his way to a comfortable two-set victory after he broke the Spaniard in the fourth game and then held for a 4-1 lead. But Alcaraz was not about to roll over, breaking back to go 4-3 after smashing a cross-court winner at the end of an entertaining rally. With the match back on serve, a tie-break seemed inevitable. But with Alcaraz serving to stay in the match, Dimitrov broke him when the Spaniard went wide and Dimitrov’s arms went high in the air in celebration. “In order to win against him, you have to play at your best. That’s just how it is,” said Dimitrov. “I came into the match very focused and I think extremely clear on what I had to do. Sometimes simplicity is genius. It’s very, very hard to do it, especially when you play against an opponent like that. But I was able to really dictate the game, “Honestly, it was a very, very great match on my end. And I’m just happy I finished it straight sets for once,” he joked. @@@