Taylor Fritz and Jannick Sinner booked their places in the quarter-finals of the Miami Open with straight sets wins at Hard Rock Stadium yesterday.
In a clash of two top-10 players, American Fritz defeated Denmark’s Holger Rune 6-3, 6-4 to reach to the last eight in Miami for the first time in his career. Fritz, who won at Delray Beach last month, beat Emilio Nava and Denis Shapovalov in straight sets before yesterday’s encounter and he was pleased with the way he was able to go on the attack.
“I couldn’t play aggressively in my first two matches because my opponents were hitting every ball as hard as they could. (Rune) still crushes the ball but it was nice to feel I had some more time,” Fritz said.
“The first two rounds, it was impossible to play my game, I just had to make balls. Today when I got the chance to be aggressive I was and I just wanted to serve well and try not to give him many free points.”
Fritz will face the winner of a match scheduled for later Tuesday between world number one Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and American Tommy Paul.
Italian Sinner has also advanced to the last eight without dropping a set and he was in firm control from the outset against Russian sixth seed Andrey Rublev, winning 6-2, 6-4.
Sinner, who has never failed to reach the quarters in his three appearances in Miami, will face Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori, who defeated Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Earlier, world number three Stefanos Tsitsipas finally got his campaign under way with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win over Cristian Garin while Argentine Francisco Cerendulo upset fifth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime.
There were no shortage of upsets at Hard Rock Stadium with 12th seeded American Francis Tiafoe beaten by 59th ranked Italian Lorenzo Sonego in straight sets.
France’s Adrian Mannarino beat seventh-seeded Pole Hubert Hurkacz and American qualifier Christopher Eubanks defeated Gregoire Barrere in straight sets.
Tsitsipas arrived in Miami a week ago, had a first round bye and then had a walkover win in the second round when Richard Gasquet pulled out with injury.
“It has almost felt like a vacation this past week, staying in Miami. I glad I got started. It was a difficult match against an opponent who has played good tennis against good opponents in the past,” said the Greek.
Tsitsipas has not be on court much in recent weeks. He withdrew from Acapulco due to a shoulder injury and was beaten in his opening match at Indian Wells this month.
The rest has, however, helped Tsitsipas to recover a little from his injury and although he was not at his sharpest, he did enough to book his place in the fourth round against Karen Khachanov.
Tsitsipas broke at 4-4 in the third set to make sure of his progress against the Chilean, who enjoyed plenty of support from the South Florida crowd.
Khachanov defeated Czech Jiri Lehecka 6-2, 6-4 to reach the Miami last 16 for the first time.
Cerundolo was knocked out of Indian Wells in straight sets by Canadian Auger-Aliassime two weeks ago, but it was a very different game on the faster courts in South Florida.
The 25th-seeded Argentine was on top from the outset, taking the first set 6-2 and he kept his nerve to triumph 7-5 in the second.
Miami is a happy hunting ground for Cerundolo, who made a surprise run to the semi-finals last year, and he relished the vocal support from his fans in the crowd.
“That was another important win for me, I think I played really good from beginning to end,” he said.
“It is super nice to play here, a lot of Argentinians, a lot of people, so I really enjoyed it. Last year was amazing, so I’m really excited to be in the round of 16 again and to try to keep winning,” he added.
Exciting American Tiafoe was tipped by many observers to go deep in the tournament but he fell 6-3, 6-4 to Sonego in a game disrupted by a second set rain delay of over an hour.
Mannarino, playing inventive tennis, beat Hurkacz 7-6 (7/5) 7-6 (7/0) but will face a tricky test against the 26-year-old Eubanks who will break into the top 100 for the first time in his career thanks to his victory over 65th ranked Barrere, who had beaten Britain’s Cam Norrie in the previous round. Eubanks trailed 6-2 in a second-set tie-break before a rain delay of more than an hour and he won seven of the next eight points for an emotional 6-3, 7-6 (9/7) victory.