The 11e seeded Grigor Dimitrov caused an upset on Friday by winning against favorite Carlos Alcaraz 6-2, 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the Miami tennis tournament.
It was Dimitrov’s first victory against a top-five player in the world in nearly five years.
His last victory against a member of the top-5 was against Roger Federer, then third, in the quarterfinals of the 2019 U.S. Open.
The other semi-final will pit Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev, second and third seeds respectively. This match will be a repeat of last year’s final, won by Medvedev.
Alcaraz, who won the Miami tournament in 2022, came in full of confidence after beating Medvedev in the final of the Indian Wells tournament.
Alcaraz trailed by a break in the second set, but brought it back at even service, at 4-4. Dimitrov won the next two games, however, breaking Alcaraz to end the match.
In Friday’s semifinals, Dimitrov will face fourth seed Alexander Zverev, who defeated Fabian Marozsan 6-3, 7-5 earlier in the day.
Rybakina among women
Among the women, fourth seed Elena Rybakina beat Victoria Azarenka (27e) 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (2) in the semi-final.
Rybakina, fourth in the world, will face the winner of the duel between the 14e seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova and Danielle Collins. The final takes place on Saturday.
Last year, Rybakina also reached the final. She lost in two sets against Petra Kvitova.
Rybakina, who defeated Azarenka in two hours 33 minutes, has won four of her five matches in three sets in the tournament so far.
Rybakina broke her rival’s serve to take a 3-2 lead in the third set. In the second set, Azarenka only conceded two points, including one on a double fault, on her serve.
Rybakina was on serve for the match, but Azarenka broke her serve to bring the set back to even serve at 5-5.
Rybakina, now 4-0 against Azarenka, will aim for a third title this year.
Azarenka was trying to become the oldest winner of the Miami tournament, at 34 years old.