Dimitrov sets Sinner showdown, earns Top 10 return

Grigor Dimitrov followed his ruthless upset of Carlos Alcaraz with another brilliant display to beat Alexander Zverev on Friday at the Miami Open presented by Itau. With his 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-4 victory, the Bulgarian advanced to his third ATP Masters 1000 and his first in Miami.

The result also moved Dimitrov up to No. 9 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, securing his return to the Top 10 in the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time since November 2018. The gap of 260 weeks between his Top 10 standings is the third-longest in ths history of the rankings.

"I fight my own battles right now. I run my own race," Dimitrov said of his growth in that time. "I think all that comes with all the work that we have put in as a team. I'm on a very different path in my life, in my career. There's a lot that was done, a lot of work, a lot of everything behind it. I kept on believing, I kept on thriving, I kept on having faith in myself... This is just the cherry on the cake."

MAGIC TENNIS IN THE MAGIC CITY ⭐️@GrigorDimitrov & @AlexZverev bring the crowd to their feet in Miami! 🙌👏@MiamiOpen | #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/QsNm1BKCTQ

— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 29, 2024

Dimitrov earned his 20th Top 5 win by wrestling control away from a surging Zverev, who was bidding for his 11th ATP Masters 1000 final. The German remains in search of his first final at that level since Madrid in 2022, with his most recent hard-court Masters 1000 final coming in Cincinnati in 2021.

"It was like a dogfight on both ends," said Dimitrov. "I think we really went at each other, especially after that first set, I felt like he upped his game a little bit and he was very, very strong throughout the whole second set and even in the tie-break. He was constantly putting a lot of pressure on me.

"And then in the third set, he had one [break] chance. I served good and then I stayed and I kept on going after my shots. I think in the end, I played with a little bit more authority and was moving the ball very well."

Dimitrov converted on both of his break points to earn the victory, snapping a seven-match losing streak in his Lexus ATP Head2Head against Zverev. Now 2-7 in the series, the Bulgarian's lone previous victory came in their first meeting, in Basel in 2014.

A high-quality opening set ended when the 32-year-old won four straight points to break from 30/0 with the help of a brilliant shoestring volley and three untimely Zverev errors.

The German regrouped in set two with a near-flawless serving performance. He did not miss a first serve until deep in the second and made 82 per cent (32/39) of his first serves in the set, according to Infosys ATP Stats. That freed him up to swing out in the rallies, and he never trailed in the tie-break, which he closed out from 4/1 up.

Dimitrov, who saved a break point at 2-2 in the first set, again had his back to the wall down a break point at 1-2 in the third. But he kept his cool once more, working the corners with crisp ball-striking to stay level in the set. That escape seemed to shift the match back in his favour. Soon after, a brilliant volley winner — in which he fell to the floor as he contorted his body to react to a net cord — sealed his second break of the match for what proved to be a decisive 4-3 lead in the decider.

"I was not letting any ball pass through then," Dimitrov said of the moment of magic. "I kind of know that he's so good off that wing, so I was kind of waiting both sides. I just thought, OK, I'm seeing the ball, I'm going to try to scramble for it, and that's what happened."

Having previously fallen one match short of a return to the Top 10 in the PIF ATP Rankings, admitting nerves spoiled his effort in the Indian Wells fourth round against Daniil Medvedev, Dimitrov stood tall to serve out the match with two love holds on this occasion.

His victory set up another clash against a Top 5 opponent: Jannik Sinner awaits in Sunday's final after his 6-1, 6-2 result against Medvedev earlier on Friday. The Italian leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head 2-1, with wins in Miami and Beijing last season.