Carlos Alcaraz continued his learning on grass by qualifying Friday evening for the semi-finals of the Queen’s tournament against Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in two sets 6-4, 6-4.
The 2nd player in the world only trembled at the start of the second set against the 26th in the world, winner of the London tournament in 2014 but who had to go through the qualifications this year to integrate the main draw.
The young Spaniard made the break from the very first game of the game. Dimitrov, 32, got three balls of equalization in 3 games everywhere on opposing service. But this long game – 11 minutes 30 seconds – finally turned in favor of Alcaraz (4-2), who kept their lead before quietly concluding four games later with a shutout after 40 minutes of play.
Facing an opponent he had dominated in their first two meetings without dropping a single set, at Bercy in 2022 and on clay in Madrid in early May, Alcaraz missed their start to the second set, finding themselves trailing 3-0. .
But the former world No.3, who never really realized the hopes placed in him when he appeared on the circuit fifteen years ago, did not hold up.
After giving up the next four games, he nevertheless recovered at 4-4 by taking the Spaniard’s service for the second time in the match. Before immediately giving up his commitment, with a double fault in the key, and allowing Alcaraz to win on his first match point.
For only the third grass court tournament of his career, after Wimbledon 2021 (loss in the 2nd round) and Wimbledon 2022 (loss in the eighth round), Alcaraz will face in the semi-final the American Sebastian Korda, who tamed the local hero, Cameron Norrie (N.5) 6-4, 7-6 (7/1).
