Grigor Dimitrov Ousts Top-Seeded Carlos Alcaraz in Miami Open Quarterfinals

 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria celebrates after defeating Carlos Alcaraz of Spain during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Thursday, March 28, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP)
Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria celebrates after defeating Carlos Alcaraz of Spain during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Thursday, March 28, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP)
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Grigor Dimitrov Ousts Top-Seeded Carlos Alcaraz in Miami Open Quarterfinals

 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria celebrates after defeating Carlos Alcaraz of Spain during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Thursday, March 28, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP)
Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria celebrates after defeating Carlos Alcaraz of Spain during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Thursday, March 28, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP)

Eleventh-seeded Grigor Dimitrov came out strong against top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday night and went on to win 6-2, 6-4 in the Miami Open quarterfinals, his first victory over a top-five player in nearly five years.

Fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev, who beat unseeded Fabian Marozsan 6-3, 7-5, will play Dimitrov in the semifinals Friday. Second-seeded Jannik Sinner will face No. 3 Daniil Medvedev in the other semifinal, a rematch of last year’s final that Medvedev won.

Dimitrov said he didn't want to evaluate the quality of his play against Alcaraz “since I have to play again tomorrow. I’m trying to stay on point. This is how our sport is. You appreciate it, of course. You’re very happy with the current win. Then you have to quickly move on and start focusing on the next match.”

Alcaraz, the 2022 champion, entered this tournament off a victory over Medvedev at Indian Wells. But the world's second-ranked player had trouble finding his game against Dimitrov and became visibly frustrated numerous times in the first set.

But Alcaraz didn't go away even after falling behind a break at 4-2 in the second set. He broke Dimitrov at love and then held serve to even the set at 4-4. Dimitrov, though, won the final two games, breaking Alcaraz in the clincher.

Alacaraz said Dimitrov played “almost perfect.”

“I have a lot of frustrations right now because he made me feel like I’m 13 years old,” the 20-year-old Alcaraz said. “It was crazy. 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.”

This was Dimitrov's first victory over a top-five player since he beat then-No. 3 Roger Federer in the quarterfinals of the 2019 US Open.

On the women's side, fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina once again had to go three sets, pushed to the edge before beating No. 27 Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (2) in the semifinals.

Rybakina, ranked fourth on the WTA Tour, will on Saturday face unseeded Danielle Collins, who defeated No. 14 Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3, 6-2. Rybakina also made last year's final, losing in straight sets to Petra Kvitová.

“This year, it’s much different,” Rybakina said. “I was not expecting, honestly, to be in the final because I was not prepared that well for this tournament, but really happy that I managed to battle through all these matches and be in the final again.”

A day off will likely be welcome for Rybakina, who has been pushed to three sets in all but one match this tournament. Thursday’s match lasted 2 hours, 33 minutes, and she told the Tennis Channel that for the first time in her career, she has rested on the days between matches during a tournament.

“In the beginning, these long matches were helping me to get back in shape,” Rybakina said. “Now I’m not in shape just because I’m tired of all these long matches, but overall, it was really successful tournament no matter how I do in the final.”

Rybakina appeared to take control when she broke Azarenka's serve to take a 3-2 lead in the third set. Azarenka fought off four break points before hitting a two-handed backhand into the net to give Rybakina the game.

It was quite a response from the second set when Azarenka lost only two points on her serve, and one came on a double fault.

But Azarenka wasn't done. With Rybakina serving for the match, Azarenka broke back to even the final set at 5-5. Both players then held serve to send the match to a tiebreaker, which belonged to Rybakina, who went up 6-1. She wrapped up the victory with a cross-court forehand.

Rybakina is seeking her third title this year. She is 4-0 in her career against Azarenka, including two victories this year.

Azarenka, 34, was attempting to become the tournament's oldest winner. She became the second-oldest semifinalist; 36-year-old Venus Williams made the semis in 2017.



Alysa Liu Delivers the US Its First Women’s Figure Skating World Championship in Nearly 2 Decades

Figure Skating - ISU World Championships - TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, US - March 28, 2025 Gold medallist Alysa Liu of the US celebrates with her medal after winning the Women’s Figure Skating World Championships. (Reuters)
Figure Skating - ISU World Championships - TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, US - March 28, 2025 Gold medallist Alysa Liu of the US celebrates with her medal after winning the Women’s Figure Skating World Championships. (Reuters)
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Alysa Liu Delivers the US Its First Women’s Figure Skating World Championship in Nearly 2 Decades

Figure Skating - ISU World Championships - TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, US - March 28, 2025 Gold medallist Alysa Liu of the US celebrates with her medal after winning the Women’s Figure Skating World Championships. (Reuters)
Figure Skating - ISU World Championships - TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, US - March 28, 2025 Gold medallist Alysa Liu of the US celebrates with her medal after winning the Women’s Figure Skating World Championships. (Reuters)

Alysa Liu skated around the ice in disbelief, her golden dress shimmering in the lights of TD Garden, and the appreciative roar from a sellout crowd reminded her why she had returned to the sport following a nearly two-year retirement.

When her score was finally read, the 19-year-old from Clovis, California, had made history.

Liu became the first American women’s figure skating world champion in nearly two decades, dethroning three-time defending champ Kaori Sakamoto with a brilliant free skate Friday night. Her program to a rendition of "MacArthur Park" by Boston native Donna Summer earned her a standing ovation, and allowed Liu to finish with 222.97 points.

"I mean, it means so much to me and everything I've been through," Liu said. "My last skating experience, my time away and this time around — I'm so happy, I guess. I'm mostly glad I could put out two of my best performances."

Liu's coaches, Phillip DiGuglielmo and Massimo Scali, pulled her into a hug in the kiss-and-cry area of the arena. Moments later, Sakamoto came over from where she had watched in the leader's chair and squeezed her tightly, as if Japan’s hero was passing Liu the torch as the first world champion from the US since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium in 2006.

Sakamoto finished with 217.98 points to add a silver medal to her three previous golds. Her Japanese teammate, Mone Chiba, was third with 215.24 points while Isabeau Levito and Amber Glenn gave the Americans three of the top five.

"We are all so strong," Levito said, "and we are all such fighters, and we all have our strengths, and are so different but we’re all so sweet with each other. I’m just so glad these are my fellow Team USA skaters."

Liu was once considered the sport's rising star, the youngest-ever US champ when she triumphed at the age of 13 in 2019, and then defended her title the following year. She fulfilled a childhood ambition by qualifying for the Olympics, finishing sixth at the 2022 Beijing Games, and earned a bronze medal at the world championships that year.

Then she stepped away. Liu decided that skating had become less of joy and more of a job, and she wanted to focus on being a normal college student. It wasn't until she went on a ski trip and felt the rush of competition — albeit in a much different way, and with far lower stakes — that she began to think about a comeback.

Early last year, she made it official with a cryptic posting on social media. And while the path back in a notoriously fickle sport was bumpy, to be sure, Liu took a big step forward with her second-place finish to Glenn at the US championships.

She took the last step up on the podium Friday night.

"Not every yesterday, I didn't expect this. I didn't have expectations coming in," Liu said. "I never have expectations coming into competitions anymore. It's more so, ‘What can I put out performance-wise?’ I really met my expectations on my part."

She left Sakamoto, the erstwhile champion, with feelings of awe and admiration.

"She went away and now she's back, and the world champion," Sakamoto said. "I wouldn't say she's changed. Her cheerfulness and kindness and the way she's always happy brought her to the top step of the podium."

Earlier in the night, American ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates built a big cushion as they chase their third consecutive title, scoring a season-best 90.18 points for their rhythm dance to lead Canadian rivals Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier.

Gilles and Poirier scored 86.44 points to their dance, set to music from The Beach Boys. They held the lead only long enough for the US duo to finish their "tour of the decades" program, which earned them a raucous ovation inside TD Garden.

The International Skating Union chose the theme this season of social dances and styles of the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s. But while some skaters picked one — the Watusi, the Madison or disco — Chock and Bates threw it all into their rollicking showcase.

"It was probably the most fun I've had thus far on competitive ice in a performance, maybe ever," Chock said. "It was really a joy to perform in front of a home crowd and share that excitement with Evan. It was the best."

Now, Chock and Bates will try to finish off the first three-peat since Russia's Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov in the 1990s.

"That’s a tough amount of points to catch up on," Poirier admitted, "but we also know that sport is really unpredictable."