Alcaraz defeats Dimitrov and will play his first semifinal at Queen’s

Carlos Alcaraz it already has a boiling point raised to the surface. He is already in a favorite position, to see himself as a candidate for everything. roared before Grigor Dimitrov (6-4 and 6-4) to go on to win outright on grass and maintain his unblemished record in the quarterfinals: of the last eight he has played, he has won all eight.

I’m ready for the battle, said the Spaniard after warming up before the match Queen’s. His confidence level has been rising since landing in London and his expectations are now high. No doubt why. After suffering against Arthur Rinderknech and dismissing Jiri Lehecka, Alcaraz ran against Dimitrov, the former tournament champion.

The Bulgarian, who dominated these courses in 2014, knows the surface much better than 90% of the course, but he lacks the character to shine more and his apathy plays tricks on him. The best example, the first service game in which they won 40-15 and gave with errors and four lost points in a row.

There he does not forgive Alcaraz, who decided to play fast tennis until 3-2, when he hung on to a game lasting more than fifteen minutes on serve. It was a necessary point of patience for a match in which El Palmar’s man gained the upper hand and Dimitrov, as is usual in his career, displayed his best tennis without tension.

That’s why he started flying on serve when he was already behind on the scoreboard and that’s why he flew in the second set, when he was doomed to defeat. The quick victory that Alcaraz expected after the initial 6-4 was deactivated by Dimitrov, who turned his chance into break and opened a 3-0 deficit on the scoreboard.

An advantage that is often definitive on a carpet that is not too forgiving with stumbling, but which Alcaraz accepted as a challenge. He closed the distance inch by inch and closed the break of serve that put him back in the set by going forward and attacking the net.

He added four games in a row, won 4-3 and was close, but he doubled again. Dimitrov used the third break point to hold 4-4 and momentarily get back into the match, but it was a mirage. His next serve went empty and Alcaraz stopped serving. He sealed his 25th quarterfinal (21-4) and will be making his 22nd career semifinal, eighth of the year.

His opponent in the semifinals will be Sebastian Korda, who defeated Cameron Norrie in two sets, whom he has faced three times so far. Alcaraz defeated him at the Next Gen Finals and Roland Garros 2022, and the American triumphed in Monte Carlo 2022. With this victory, Alcaraz is two games away from returning to the number one ranking, currently held by Novak Djokovic.