site.btaUPDATED Tennis Player Grigor Dimitrov Wins against World No.2 Alcaraz

Bulgaria's highest ranked male tennis player Grigor Dimitrov qualified for the quarterfinals of the ATP 1000 tournament in Shanghai, scoring his first ever victory over world No.2 Carlos Alcaras on Wednesday. The Bulgarian played one of the best matches of his career to secure a 5-7 6-2 6-4 comeback over the two-time Grand Slam champion. 

Dimitrov's serve was instrumental for the win, as he got 72% of his first serve in with 73% win rate in those cases. He broke his negative streak against Alcaraz after losing their three previous matches without winning a single set.

The 32-year-old Bulgarian played aggressive tennis, scoring 29 winners and winning 73 per cent (16/22) of points when moving forward to the net to deny the first seed in the tournament from reaching his 13th quarterfinal in 14th ATP event in 2023. He showed great mental fortitude after relinquishing a 5-3 lead in the first set.

"I stayed in the match, that was the first thing, especially after the first set," Dimitrov said after the win, quoted by ATP's official website. "I was serving very well throughout the first set and he made a few errors. I pushed him to make a lot of errors at certain moments. At 4-5 he played an amazing game and another at 6-5. I was creating a lot of opportunities."

In his first ATP 1000 quarterfinal of the year Dimitrov will meet Nicolas Jarry.

Bulgaria's best tennis player achieved his 17th win against a top 5 opponent and his third over a world No.2, the two previous being against Daniil Medvedev in Indian Wells in October, 2021 and against Andy Murray in Miami in 2016. 

"I knew what I had to do," Dimitrov said when reflecting on his win. "I knew I had to apply constant pressure against him. Even if I was down, even if my shots were not good enough, I had to put him in uncomfortable positions. He doesn't like being on the back foot. I was coming in quite a little bit and trying to put him in awkward positions."