Grigor Dimitrov earned his greatest win of the season on Wednesday when he upset World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 to succeed in the quarter-finals on the Rolex Shanghai Masters.
Getting into the match trailing the Spaniard 0-3 within the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head sequence, the Bulgarian produced a high-quality show on the hard-court occasion to show the tables. He timed the ball cleanly off each wings whereas he used his backhand drop shot to nice impact to tuck up Alcaraz, who was aiming to advance to his thirteenth quarter-final in 14 occasions in 2023.
The 32-year-old Dimitrov struck 29 winners and responded properly after relinquishing a 5-3 lead within the first set to succeed in his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final of the 12 months and seventeenth in his profession after two hours and 10 minutes.
“I stayed within the match, that was the very first thing, particularly after the primary set,” Dimitrov mentioned. “I used to be serving very properly all through the primary set and he made just a few errors. I pushed him to make a variety of errors at sure moments. At 4-5 he performed an incredible recreation and one other at 6-5. I used to be creating a variety of alternatives.
“After the second break within the second set I believe I understood his service video games and was in a position to put extra balls in and skim his serve a bit higher. I believe within the third set it was a little bit of cat-and-mouse. I believe we each performed a strong set. He made just a few errors and I used to be very strong and served properly after I needed to.”
Dimitrov Debates Good Participant & The Shot That ‘By no means Missed’
Dimitrov, who additionally reached the final eight in Shanghai in 2017, will subsequent play twenty second seed Nicolas Jarry as he seeks his first title since his 2017 Nitto ATP Finals triumph. The World No. 19 has earned 17 wins towards Prime 5 opponents, along with his earlier victory towards a participant ranked within the Prime 2 coming in October 2021 towards Daniil Medvedev in Indian Wells. Earlier this month, Dimitrov upset then-World No. 4 Holger Rune in Beijing.
In a good conflict, Dimitrov was on the front-foot all through towards Alcaraz. He adopted his low slice into the online, successful 73 per cent (16/22) of factors when transferring ahead, whereas he was rock-solid on serve within the decider. The Bulgarian gained 89 per cent (16/18) of his first-serve factors within the third set and sealed the fourth Prime 2 win of his profession with a smash.
He by no means left 🔥
Dimitrov used his forehand as his greatest weapon v. Alcaraz 🫡#ShotQuality | @tennis_insights pic.twitter.com/JJjmv2VJA9
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 11, 2023
“I knew what I needed to do,” Dimitrov mentioned when reflecting on his win. “I knew I needed to apply fixed strain towards him. Even when I used to be down, even when my photographs weren’t ok, I needed to put him in uncomfortable positions. He would not like being on the again foot. I used to be coming in fairly somewhat bit and making an attempt to place him in awkward positions.”
Alcaraz now holds a 63-9 report on the season, along with his defeat to Dimitrov damaging his ATP 12 months-Finish No. 1 introduced by Pepperstone probabilities. The 20-year-old Spaniard leaves Shanghai trailing Novak Djokovic by 500 factors within the Pepperstone ATP Stay Race To Turin.
The World No. 2 was chasing his seventh crown of the season and third at ATP Masters 1000 degree. Alcaraz has clinched trophies in Indian Wells and Madrid in 2023.
