MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, playing one of the best matches of his career, ousted top seeded Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz 6-2, 6-4 in the Miami Open quarterfinals Thursday night.

The Hard Rock Stadium crowd included Mike Tyson, Jimmy Butler and Ivanka Trump and was treated to an hour and a half of exceptional tennis from the 32-year-old Bulgarian. Dimitrov displayed the variety and great shot making that earned him the nickname “Baby Roger” early in his career, a reference to Roger Federer. Alcaraz was riding a nine-match win streak and coming off a title at Indian Wells.

“He made me feel like I am 13 years old, it was crazy,” Alcaraz said. “I was talking to my team, saying that I don’t know what I have to do. I don’t know his weakness. I don’t know anything. That’s why I have frustration right now.”

The 11th seed raced to a 3-0 lead, led 4-1 in the second set and broke Alcaraz’s serve at 4-5 in the second set.

“I think overall to win against him you have to play at best, that’s just how it is,” Dimitrov said in his post-match interview. “I came into the match very focused and I think [it was] extremely clear what I had to do.

“Sometimes simplicity is genius. It’s very, very hard to do it, especially when you play against an opponent like that, but I was really able to dictate the game, read the game a little bit better than last time. Overall, I think a very great match on my end and I’m just happy I finished in straight sets.”

Dimitrov is in the Miami Open semifinals for the first time and will face fourth seed Alexander Zverev on Friday. Jannik Sinner plays defending Miami Open champion Daniil Medvedev in the other semifinal, a rematch of the 2024 Australian Open (which Sinner won) and the 2023 Miami Open final (which Medvedev won).

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