Carlos Alcaraz, show of strength in Indian Wells
The words of Alcaraz
Not even the desert wind can stop Carlos Alcaraz who breaks into the Indian Wells quarterfinals thanks to a clear 61 61 success over Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.
A performance, that of the Spaniard, of the highest level in very difficult weather conditions. The athletic freshness and verve of Alcaraz prevented the Bulgarian from being able to prepare any countermove to make the match balanced.
"It's always difficult,” Alcaraz said, “to play against Grigor. He's a really talented champion and he can always do what he wants with the ball. Today, with these conditions, è it was difficult for both of us. We had to survive the wind. I am happy that I played some very intense exchanges and kept a very high tempo throughout the whole match.
The Spaniard, despite being ahead in the previous 4-2, feared this match a lot since he had lost the last two direct confrontations: in Shanghai in 2023 and in Miami in the quarterfinals last year. But in practice the match never had any history. Alcaraz closed in 74 minutes of play with 20 winners and three break points canceled out of three.
For the Spaniard è it was also the 15th match in a row won in Indian Wells since his defeat by Nadal in the 2022 semifinals. In those 15 wins, Alcaraz has lost just two sets: one against Matteo Arnaldi in the 2024 opener and against Sinner in the semifinals also last year. Ahead of him are only Federer with 18 and Djokovic with 19 matches won in a row.
In the quarters Alcaraz è expected of Francisco Cerundolo who prevailed 75 63 over Australian favorite Alex De Minaur. "I have been watching,” Alcaraz said of Cerundolo, “his matches and I can see that he is playing really great. I don’t understand which surface is best for him, sometimes clay or cement. He plays really well everywhere and this shows that è a real, complete player. I will have to focus and be ready to fight to get through these two weeks. But I am confident because è I feel I am improving match by match. I love Indian Wells very much, I love the center and I am ready to accept the challenge with Cerundolo".
