Carlos Alcaraz Destroys Grigor Dimitrov At Indian Wells With Blistering Performance
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Carlos Alcaraz showed how hard it will be for anyone to stop him at the 2025 Indian Wells Open by hammering Grigor Dimitrov to reach the quarterfinals.
The two-time defending champion in Indian Wells defeated Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 6-4 in the round of 32. Shapovalov has been in good form this year, but never stood a chance because of how Alcaraz played.
Dimitrov set up the meeting with Alcaraz after winning a thrilling battle against Gael Monfils in a deciding set tiebreak. It was arguably the match of the tournament and left fans mesmerized from start to finish.
Challenging Alcaraz after playing such a lengthy contest was never going to be easy for the 34-year-old Dimitrov. However, he undoubtedly took some confidence and hope from winning his last two meetings against the Spaniard.
Getting off to a positive start felt crucial for Dimitrov after his efforts against Monfils, but the opposite occurred. Alcaraz took his second break point chance of the opening game to take an early advantage in the set.
Dimitrov never came close to making the 21-year-old sweat after that. In truth, the 2017 ATP Finals champion did not play badly, but Alcaraz barely put a foot wrong and piled relentless pressure on his opponent.
The Bulgarian got on the scoreboard after saving a break point to make it 2-1 in favor of Alcaraz. Unfortunately for Dimitrov's fans, that was as good as the first set got for him.
Alcaraz won the final four games to make it 6-1. He only lost four points on serve during the set and was never in danger of being threatened in front of the crowd gathered on Court 1.
After Alcaraz held to love to start the second set, Dimitrov had to fend off more break points. He managed to do that, including a stunning backhand overhead smash winner that left the fans in Indian Wells gasping.
However, that did not signal a change in momentum. Alcaraz held easily again before Dimitrov swiftly found himself 0-40 down. The 2014 Wimbledon semifinalist saved the first two, but dumped a backhand into the net on the third to hand the former ATP world No. 1 another break.
Dimitrov created pressure on serve for the first time when Alcaraz's level momentarily dropped with some unforced errors. He had three chances to break back but a volley winner, a backhand error from Dimitrov, and an ace ended those hopes.
The pre-match underdog's body language became understandably deflated after that. A missed passing shot led to Alcaraz breaking again before serving out a 6-1, 6-1 win after one of the most dominant performances of his career.
Alcaraz will play Francisco Cerundolo in the quarterfinal. The Argentine will probably need to play one of the best matches of his life to have a chance of defeating the world No. 3.
Alcaraz spoke after his win against Shapovalov about how fans dressed as bees, a reference to him being stung during the infamous bee invasion at last year's event, motivated him, but he needed no external help against Dimitrov. The Spaniard played an outstanding match.
