Will Alcaraz give the former world champion no chance again?

With two straight 2-0 wins, Carlos Alcaraz has admittedly had to toil harder so far in his debut at the Shanghai Masters than the results convey. In the end, however, the Spanish superstar has once again come through the first rounds of a major tournament unscathed. Now the world number two clashes with the Bulgarian former world champion for the third time in 2023. Basically, when it comes to Carlos Alcaraz vs. Grigor Dimitrov, the betting is very hot on the Spaniard being able to defeat the Bulgarian outright 2-0 another time.

Three encounters have taken place between the two athletes so far, and in all three cases the young Spaniard has won 2-0. His Bulgarian challenger goes into the match with a solid record of 33 wins from 51 singles matches. Especially against the top stars of the ATP Tour, Dimitrov’s record reads weak across the board, which is why the forecast clearly goes to the Spaniard for Carlos Alcaraz against Grigor Dimitrov

Recently, Grigor Dimitrov was able to show off, however, when he was able to eliminate the number 13 of the seedings list with Karen Khachanov with a commanding 2:0. The Bulgarian should be able to take one or two games from the top-seeded Spaniard. However, it is questionable whether this will be enough to win the very first set against Carlos Alcaraz in his fourth attempt, especially since the Bulgarian has only reached the quarterfinals twice in his last 21 appearances at Masters tournaments and usually bowed out as soon as the level increased noticeably.

Carlos Alcaraz – statistics & current form

Current position in the world ranking: 2
Position in the seedings: 1

The 20-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz was caught up in the ATP world rankings again by Novak Djokovic, who missed the tennis tournament in New York City a year ago. Nevertheless, the Spanish superstar is still on an absolute high.

The man from El Palmar has already secured six singles titles in the 2023 calendar year – including not only his second Grand Slam title, which he won against the Djoker in the epic final of the Wimbledon Championships, but also two Major titles at the Masters tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami.

Only eight lost singles matches in 2023

Although the year’s tally of 63 wins from 71 completed singles matches reads absolutely impressive, Carlos Alcaraz has, however, slowed down a tiny bit in recent months. Since his Wimbledon victory, the Spaniard has already been waiting for singles title number seven in 2023.

A triumph at the Shanghai Masters, in which the Spaniard is currently participating for the first time in his career, would suit the 20-year-old well. No wonder, because the Masters tournament in China had to be cancelled three times in a row due to the Corona pandemic and was last played in 2019, when the shooting star was not yet part of the ATP Tour.

Despite two 2-0 wins, not unconditionally convincing

Four years later, however, not only are the odds clearly swinging in the Spaniard’s direction in Carlos Alcaraz’s match against Grigor Dimitrov, but he is also one of the favorites to win the overall title at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena, a fact he has underscored with two 2-0 victories to open the campaign.

It should be noted, however, that the 20-year-old had slight problems against both Grégoire Barrère (ATP 73) and Daniel Evans (ATP 33). He allowed a total of 13 break points in both matches, but managed to fend off ten of them. It is clear that with “only” 70.5% of points won on first serve so far, he will have to be a bit more confident with his own service in the coming rounds

Grigor Dimitrov – statistics & current form

Current position in the world ranking: 19
Position in the seedings: 18

Now 32 years old, Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov was once considered the talent of the century. Because his playing style in his younger years was reminiscent of that of the legendary Roger Federer, he was also given the top name “Baby Federer” early on.

At first, it also looked as if the man from Haskovo, who at the beginning of his career was in a relationship with multiple Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova and made headlines primarily because of his private life, would be able to fulfill the great promise of a great career. In 2017, he not only won his first major tournament at the Western & Southern Open, but became the unofficial world champion with his overall victory at the 2017 ATP Finals in London.

No tournament wins since November 19, 2017

That triumph at the ATP Finals, however, was the last tournament win Grigor Dimitrov recorded to date. That means he has officially gone six straight years without a title in one month, unless he can record another resounding success in the home stretch of the current season.

The fact that he has not gone any higher in his career is mainly due to Dimi’s poor record against the top stars on the ATP Tour. For example, he won only one of twelve duels with Novak Djokovic (8%), only one of 15 matches against Rafael Nadal (7%) and only one of eight duels with Roger Federer (13%). Against Carlos Alcaraz, Dimitrov has even lost all three previous encounters (0%).

Without dropping a service game into the round of 16

Accordingly, Carlos Alcaraz’s betting on the Bulgarian’s victory against Grigor Dimitrov is ill-starred. Although the Bulgarian is having a fundamentally good year with 33 wins from 51 completed singles matches, he has not reached a single final. As the tournament progressed, the 32-year-old was usually finished off as soon as the level rose.

In Shanghai, however, Dimi did not let anything go against Aleksandar Vukic (ATP 54) or Karen Khachanov (ATP 14). In both matches, the former world champion scored with his first serve in 85.5% of all cases and thus did not have to surrender a single service game in the course of the tournament, with only two opponent break points. Now, however, he clashes with one of the best return players on the ATP Tour…

Carlos Alcaraz – Grigor Dimitrov Direct comparison / H2H record

Head to head: 3:0

The two players have faced each other three times so far – including two times already this year. On all three occasions, Carlos Alcaraz came out on top against Grigor Dimitrov without losing a set. The Spaniard therefore leads the direct comparison by a clear margin.

Carlos Alcaraz – Grigor Dimitrov tip

The bookmakers’ betting odds on Carlos Alcaraz against Grigor Dimitrov are also clearly in favor of the Spaniard, who has won the three previous encounters with the Bulgarian former world champion outright 2-0. While the Bulgarian has done reasonably well in 2023, winning 33 of his 51 singles matches, he has once again failed to reach any finals, let alone win a tournament on the ATP Tour after five seasons without a title, which is due to his poor record against top-10 players.

Although Dimi recently beat Holger Rune (ATP 4) 2-0 in Beijing, among others, we only reckon he has a very slim chance of winning the set against the overpowering Spaniard. Accordingly, our forecast for Carlos Alcaraz against Grigor Dimitrov is for a 2-0 win for the world number two