The best Bulgarian tennis player Grigor Dimitrov was eliminated from the Indian Wells tournament of the Masters 1000 series in the USA, after losing to the world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz with 2:6, 3:6 in 67 minutes.
In his first match of the competition, the 34-year-old Bulgarian defeated the Frenchman Terence Atman with 6:4, 5:7, 6:4. Against Alcaraz, however, he faced a much more serious challenge, as the Spaniard began his participation directly from the second round. In the first set, Alcaraz quickly took the initiative.
The Spaniard demonstrated a strong opening shot and realized a breakthrough that gave him a comfortable lead. Despite several good service games by Dimitrov, the world No. 1 controlled the rallies and closed the set with a score of 6:2. In the second set, the Bulgarian put up more resistance and managed to maintain an even game at the beginning.
Dimitrov also had opportunities to make it difficult for his opponent when receiving, but he failed to take advantage of them. Alcaraz again showed stability on serve and made a decisive breakthrough, after which he closed the match with a score of 6:3. Thus, the Spaniard increased his lead in direct matches against Dimitrov to 5-2. In the next round, he will face the winner of the match between Juan Manuel Cerundolo and Artur Rinderknesh.