Alcaraz lost in the fourth round of Shanghai Masters

China World number two Carlos Alcaraz lost to Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 2-6, 4-6 at the ATP 1000 tournament in Shanghai on October 11.

For the first time since May, Alcaraz has been eliminated before the quarterfinals of a tournament he has played. Having beaten Dimitrov in their previous three meetings, the Spaniard was outclassed in their fourth. Alcaraz trailed in all three sets and only managed to hold out in the first set, before failing to save a break point in the next two.

Alcaraz (left) shakes hands to congratulate Dimitrov after the match on October 11. Photo: AP

Alcaraz’s serve is something he needs to improve on after his fourth-round loss on October 11. After the match, Dimitrov said the key to the victory was his ability to read his opponent’s serve, which led to winning service games in all three sets. Alcaraz only saved one of the five break points he faced throughout the match. The 20-year-old admitted that he did not have many attacking opportunities throughout the match, as his opponent played high-level tennis.

In the final two sets, Dimitrov served well and gave his opponent no chance. In the third set, he won 16 of 18 first-serve points, advancing to his first quarterfinal of the year and the 17th of his career. The Bulgarian also has 17 wins over top-5 opponents. Last week, he also defeated Holger Rune at the ATP 500 tournament in Beijing.

Alcaraz had four brilliant games at the end of the first set to win 7-5 after falling 3-5. The same could not be said for the next two sets, where he lost 2-6 and 4-6. The defeat left Alcaraz 500 points behind Novak Djokovic in the Race to Turin rankings, meaning his chances of finishing the year number one are much narrower.

"The number one position is further away from me," Alcaraz said after his ninth defeat of the season. "I have a few tournaments ahead of me and I will try my best to win them. I missed a lot of chances. Today's result makes the number one goal at the end of the year more difficult than ever."

Dimitrov will face 22nd seed Nicolas Jarry in the quarter-finals. The other two tickets to the next round have also been confirmed, belonging to Andrey Rublev and Ugo Humbert. The quarter-finals begin at 2pm today, October 12, Hanoi time, with Hubert Hurkacz facing Fabian Marozsan and Ben Shelton facing Sebastian Korda.

Vy Anh

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