By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday April 30, 2023
Carlos Alcaraz reeled off the final five games to finish off his straight sets victory over Grigor Dimitrov in Madrid.
Photo Source: TTV
Carlos Alcaraz continues to run wild in the magic box. The Spanish teenager continued his Madrid Open title defense on Sunday, reeling off the final five games to beat back a challenge from former World No.3 Grigor Dimitrov, 6-2, 7-5.
It was yet another electrifying romp for the teenager, who put his magical shotmaking arsenal on display as he rifled to his 25th win of the season (against just two losses) and improved to 2-0 against Dimitrov and 8-1 at Madrid.
For his efforts, the 19-year-old gets another shot at Alexander Zverev, the man who ended his Roland-Garros run in the quarterfinals last spring, in the round of 16. The German, a two-time champion at Madrid, blasted past France’s Hugo Grenier 6-1, 6-0 on Sunday to set a fourth career clash with Alcaraz.
It was Alcaraz that did the blasting in last year’s Madrid final, 6-3, 6-1, against Zverev, but the former World No.2 holds the 3-1 edge against Alcaraz.
It will be a giant challenge for Zverev, who is still searching for his peak tennis as he makes his way back to the top of the game after missing the second half of 2022 due to ankle surgery. He has struggled to hit his stride in 2023, and will enter his showdown with the high-flying Spaniard toting a 12-11 record on the season.
Alcaraz is eager to have a shot to take the upper hand back from Zverev.
“I really want to play that match,” Alcaraz said with a smile on court after his victory. “I would say head-to-head he is up. I really want to show my great level here in front of my home crowd – I have great memories of last year in the final but I have to be really focused, I know that Sascha is a really good player, really aggressive with a good serve, so I will have to show all my skills.”
Rublev Stays Hot
Monte-Carlo champion and Banja Luka runner-up Andrey Rublev continued to look strong on the clay, the fifth-seeded Russian powering past Yoshihito Nishioka 6-2 7-5 to improve to 10-1 on clay this spring. He’ll face his compatriot Karen Khachanov in the round of 16 after the No.10 seed defeated Roberto Bautista Agut 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
Khachanov and Rublev have split their four previous meetings, but the pair have never met on clay.
Borna Coric, who defeated Hubert Hurkacz 7-6(3), 6-3, and Jaume Munar, who got past Matteo Arnaldi, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, also advanced.