Carlos Alcaraz was cruising through the 2024 Miami Open draw before he ran into Grigor Dimitrov, who was holding a masterclass in tennis.
The Spaniard has been playing pretty decent tennis lately, even though it didn't look all that great at the start of the year. He found himself at the Indian Wells Open, cruising to yet another trophy, and hoped he could get number two at the Miami Open as well.
It didn't quite go that way, even though he looked like a candidate to win it all with his early event performances. Grigor Dimitrov played a superb match to beat the Spaniard in two sets easily, and it was a tough loss to swallow for the youngster.
Speaking to the media after the match, Alcaraz vented quite a bit. We've seen him be quite harsh towards himself immediately after losses, and it was rather visible how much this one pained him.
"Well, I think I played good tennis. I mean, I left the court thinking that probably I had to change my game a little bit earlier, but anyway, I feel like I played a good tennis. Not perfect but a good one. But I feel, let's say, I have a lot of frustrations right now, because he made me feel like I'm 13 years old."
The problem for Alcaraz was simply that he didn't know what to do. He felt helpless and that's a tough spot for a player who is mostly used to doing that to his opponents.
"You know, it was crazy. I was talking to my team saying that I don't know what I have to do. I don't know, you know, his weakness. I don't know anything. That's why I have frustration right now, but, you know, in the thought of tennis, I left the court happy with my level."