Grigor Dimitrov and Carlos Alcaraz have faced each other three times since the Spanish tennis player broke on the ATP circuit. The first defeat came in Paris-Bercy in 2022, the other two in 2023.
The first on the red clay of the Mutua Madrid Open, in the quarter-finals, the second on the grass of Queen’s, in London. All matches that the former world number one won without ever losing a set, with the match on Spanish clay more balanced than the others, at least in the first set.
In the fourth head-to-head, the Bulgarian’s first victory arrived. The former world number three comes from behind to beat the two-time Slam champion with a result of 6-7, 6-2, 6-4. The 2017 ATP Finals champion had an excellent reaction after a first set lost from 5-3 to the final 5-7 in favor of Alcaraz.
With this victory, Dimitrov became one of the four players to have managed, in 2023, to win a match against Alcaraz after losing the first set. There are four players who have succeeded in this feat.
Grigor Dimitrov gets a super date against Carlos Alcaraz
The first to do so this season is Cameron Norrie, who came from behind to defeat the Spanish tennis player in the final of the ATP 500 tournament in Rio de Janeiro. The other two tennis players are two top 5 in the men’s rankings.
After the victory of the Briton, it was Jannik Sinner who won in a comeback against Carlos Alcaraz: it was the semi-final of the Miami Open, with the Italians responding to the 6-7 with a 6-4, 6-2. The last in chronological order, before Grigor Dimitrov, was the current world number one Novak Djokovic.
In one of the best ATP Masters 1000 finals in recent years, the then twenty-three-time Slam champion won the final match in Cincinnati against Carlos Alcaraz with the result of 5-7 7-6(7) 7-6(4).
Players to defeat Carlos Alcaraz after losing the first set in 2023:
🇬🇧 Cameron Norrie
🇮🇹 Jannik Sinner
🇷🇸 Novak Djokovic
🇧🇬 GRIGOR DIMITROVElite club. pic.twitter.com/DzvlPP3DqY
— Relevant Tennis (@RelevantTennis) October 11, 2023