Carlos Alcaraz vs Grigor Dimitrov: 2023 Shanghai Masters - Preview & Prediction

10/10/2023 12:20 | by Evita Mueller

Carlos Alcaraz hopes to go all the way at the 2023 Shanghai Masters but to do so he'll need to beat a very solid Grigor Dimitrov, who can be a problem.

Dimitrov has been playing some really solid tennis lately and generally has been very good the whole year. In many ways, this is his best year in recent memory, which makes him a dangerous player in these conditions. He's really solid across the board which is why you need a really precise effort to win against him.

Alcaraz has been doing that and much more this week after a rather disappointing outing in Beijing, where he lost to Jannik Sinner. The goal is to get as many points as possible as he aims to reclaim number one from Novak Djokovic. Winning this event would be a good step towards that, and that's the goal.

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Head-to-head:

So, how did this one go so far? Well, it's been pretty one-sided, as you might expect. They played three times so far on the ATP Tour, and Alcaraz won every match as Dimitrov failed to win a single set. They also played on all surfaces, which shows a clear dominance by the Spaniard.

Dimitrov is a far more stable player this year, and their two matches this year were actually pretty close but still not enough to overcome Alcaraz.

Prediction:

I suspect that this one might go very similarly because Alcaraz has looked really sharp in Shanghai. The conditions look good for him; he's feeling good, he's playing well, and he's very motivated after not concluding Beijing the way he wanted to. Whether he does remains to be seen, but it should be good enough for this one.

He's just too solid from the baseline, having enough defence and offence to overcome Dimitrov, who is good but obviously has some clear limitations. That's why he never quite got up there like some of the best.

Prediction: Carlos Alcaraz to win in two sets.

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