Javier Sanchez

Updated Friday, March 29, 2024-15:51

  • Chronicle Dimitrov immerses Alcaraz in a sea of ​​doubts and eliminates him in the Miami quarterfinals

There are defeats that are whirlpools: the current is violent, it is difficult to get out of them, they are very dangerous. But there are defeats that are the opposite: a cloud covers the sun, you feel a slight chill and after a while everything shines. Carlos Alcaraz's defeat against

Grigor Dimitrov

in the quarterfinals of the Miami Masters 1000 was like that, a temporary annoyance. This Friday, while asleep at night, perhaps the Spaniard no longer even remembers the ugly score (6-2 and 6-4) and carelessly approaches preparation for the upcoming clay court tour. It is the ideal for the athlete: if you have to fall, it should be because the opponent was better. And Dimitrov was better, much better.

«Grigor played almost perfect tennis. I have not been able to find solutions or make him feel uncomfortable. I have played great tennis, not perfect, but good. I have told my team: he has made me feel as if he were 13 years old. He's been crazy. Not know what to do. He had no weaknesses. I don't remember feeling this way. If it happened to me before, it was a long time ago. “I have felt immense frustration,” Alcaraz acknowledged in the subsequent press conference with a smile on his face.

His stumble this Thursday against Dimitrov had nothing to do with his other recent falls. Neither against

Alexander Zverev

in the last Australian Open nor against

Novak Djokovic

in the ATP Finals nor against

Jannik Sinner

at the ATP 500 in Beijing did he come out so calm. Then the world number two plunged into a personal crisis, he stopped enjoying himself on the court, he doubted his entire tennis. This time he simply applauded his rival and something else. There was really no other way. Dimitrov, an exceptional tennis player sunk by the weight of his nickname -Baby Federer-, played one of the best matches of his life with a firm serve and his truly violent backhand return. Every Alcaraz serve found an immediate, direct response, a racket that there was no way to return. In the end, the Spaniard picked up his rackets, his Indian Wells Masters 1000 winner's trophy and returned from the United States with joy.

«It has been a very positive month of March, winning a Masters 1000 and feeling how I have felt. It has been super positive. Despite the defeat, I leave with the feeling of having played good tennis and I have only found one opponent who has surpassed me. I'm looking forward to starting the clay court tour," he concluded and that is now the challenge ahead.

Clay tournaments

Despite his physical condition, Alcaraz has not yet completed a completely satisfactory clay tour. In both 2022 and 2023 he won the Conde de Godó and the Mutua Madrid Open in Madrid, the two home tournaments, but in the Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo and Rome he has not yet played the quarterfinals and has always left Roland Garros with the feeling of having been able to go further. In 2022, against Zverev, he destroyed his own mind and in 2023, against Djokovic, he destroyed his own body, injured in the middle of the match. This year he has the challenge of the season twice in Paris. First, in early June, he will seek his first Grand Slam title, and then, in early August, Olympic gold at the Olympic Games. Whoever gets it right in France can chain an unprecedented streak and there is no candidate ahead of Alcaraz.

Beyond the unknown of

Rafa Nadal

, Novak Djokovic is going through a crisis - especially after separating from his coach, Goran Ivanisevic - and we will have to see the level of the rest. Sinner,

Daniil Medvedev

and Zverev have indeed appeared in the semifinals of the Miami Masters 1000, but Alcaraz will be waiting for them on land with a defeat behind them, a temporary annoyance.