In the Miami Open quarterfinals on Thursday, eleventh-seeded Grigor Dimitrov overcame top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz 6-2, 6-4, marking his first win against a top-five player in almost five years.

Friday’s semifinal match will pit fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev against unseeded Fabian Marozsan 6-3, 7-5. In the other semifinal, second-seeded Jannik Sinner will take on Daniil Medvedev, ranked third, in a replay of last year’s final, which Medvedev prevailed in.

The 2022 champion, Alcaraz, came into this competition fresh off an Indian Wells triumph over Medvedev. However, the second-ranked player in the world struggled to find his game against Dimitrov and showed signs of frustration multiple times during the opening set.

But even after trailing 4–2 in the second set, Alcaraz remained persistent. He maintained serve to even the match at four after breaking Dimitrov at love. However, Dimitrov went on to win the next two games, breaking Alcaraz in the decisive match.

Since defeating Roger Federer, who was ranked third at the time, in the US Open quarterfinals in 2019, Dimitrov had not triumphed over a player ranked in the top five.

In the previous encounter, Zverev exploited Marozsan’s serve, winning 80% of his first serve points, converting three of his seven break point opportunities, and swatting away the two break points he faced to advance to the Miami final four, where he hasn’t dropped a set.

Marozsan, who is playing in Miami for the first time, upsets top-10 players Holger Rune and Alex de Minaur en route to the quarterfinals, and Zverev had his hands full with Marozsan despite not dropping a set in windy conditions.

“If he continues playing like that he’s going to rise up the rankings very quickly and he’s going to be one of those [top 10] guys himself,” Zverev stated during his in-court interview.

“When we are in control, I think all top players when they are in control they feel like they can manage the match, manipulate the match a little bit in their own favor.”

“But against him that’s not possible. That’s why he has such a great top-10 record and he’s an unbelievable player.”

Zverev made his way back to the Miami Open semifinals for the first time since finishing in second place in 2018. His victory was cemented with a break after he sent an incredible backhand down the line.