Carlos Alcaraz and Grigor Dimitrov will be squaring off for the fourth time in their careers and for the third time this season when they collide in round four of the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Wednesday.
As is the case with many players, this is a tough matchup for Dimitrov. The 32-year-old Bulgarian is winless in three tries against Alcaraz and has not even taken a single set. Dimitrov lost 6-1, 6-3 at last fall’s Paris Masters, 6-2, 7-5 this spring in Madrid, and 6-4, 6-4 at Queen’s Club. Now playing on an outdoor hard court, Alcaraz can make it a clean sweep of every surface in this head-to-head series–having previously prevailed indoors, on clay, and on grass.
It may not be easy, however, given Dimitrov’s form. The world No. 19 has now won multiple matches at nine of his last 10 tournaments after beating Aleksandar Vukic 6-4, 6-3 and Karen Khachanov 7-6(6), 6-4 so far in Shanghai. This stretch includes a runner-up performance in Geneva, semifinal finishes in Washington, D.C. and Chengdu, and a fourth-round effort at Wimbledon.
Alcaraz is obviously playing stellar tennis, himself. Semifinal exits at the U.S. Open (to Daniil Medvedev) and China Open (to Jannik Sinner) were disappointments, but the bottom line is that he has lost prior to the quarterfinals only once this entire season–and that was due to fatigue at the Rome Masters, having just lifted the trophy in Madrid. Shanghai’s top seed has been tested this fortnight, but he defeated Gregoire Barrere 6-2, 7-5 and then scraped past Dan Evans 7-6(1), 6-4 on Monday.
With two of the best athletes on tour taking the court, the entertainment factor in this one should be extremely high. Similar to Evans, though, Dimitrov doesn’t have the firepower of Sinner to hit Alcaraz off the court and doesn’t have the consistency of Medvedev to hang in 30-ball rallies. Count on another win coming the world No. 2’s way.
Pick: Alcaraz in 2
who ya got?
Entertainment factor?….YES!….Carlos in 2.