A capacity Grandstand crowd was treated to one of the matches of the season as Carlos Alcaraz battled past Stefanos Tsitsipas, 7-5, 6-3, Tuesday night at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

In a rematch of their five-set epic at the US Open, the second installment of this budding ATP Head2Head rivalry exceeded the considerable hype with another instant classic. The same could be said for the 18-year-old Alcaraz, who has managed to overdeliver in the face of sky-high expectations early in his career, this fourth-round performance just his latest tour de force.

“It was really, really tough. He was playing unbelievable,” the Spaniard said of an opening set of the absolute highest quality — a set he thought was lost as Tsitsipas had a chance to serve it out. “All I can say is I fought until the last ball in the first set [to] come back.”

Alcaraz, who improved to 15-2 on the season with the win, is now one win from back-to-back ATP Masters 1000 semi-finals after reaching that stage for the first time at that level in Indian Wells.

After surrendering an early break to a motivated Tsitsipas, the youngster took charge of the match by winning seven straight games from 2-5 down in the first. He reached an otherworldly level in doing so, leaving the third seed perplexed as he mixed in perfectly weighted lobs and drop shots with his usual brand of bruising baseline tennis — the kind that prompted Tsitsipas to say he had “never seen someone hit the ball so hard” following their New York meeting.

Out for revenge, Tsitsipas was locked in early as he created the first five break points of the match, converting on the fifth for a 4-2 lead. The match was of sublime quality from the start, and it produced a point-of-the-year contender in the third game as Alcaraz’s tweener lob was returned by another tweener from Tsitsipas, the Spaniard finishing off the exchange with a volley winner.

Once Tsitsipas broke for 4-2, the match began to tilt in Alcaraz’s favour. The Greek fought off four break points to consolidate for 5-2, but then lost his next three service games as his opponent sustained an immaculate level to take the opening set and surge ahead in the second. 

Everything was working for the Spaniard, who suddenly had his opponent chasing shadows. On the rare occasions Tsitsipas was able to attack, Alcaraz flashed his world-class defense and speed to further frustrate the World No. 5.

“I knew that Stefanos is a player who always is looking for his forehand,” Alcaraz said, describing his game plan. “I tried to hit two or three backhands cross-court and then switch to down the line, to his running forehand. It was a key. I think he lives in the backhand side all the time, looking for his forehand, as I said. It was pretty important, the backhand down the line.”

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Alcaraz’s domination in that seven-game stretch, combined with an apparent sense of bewilderment from Tsitsipas, was so comprehensive that a comeback seemed out of the question.  

But to his immense credit, Tsitsipas created three break points across two consecutive service games midway through the second set. After playing so solidly to bring up those chances, he let Alcaraz off the hook with a few untimely errors. It was perhaps the first time on the night Tsitsipas could truly find fault with himself, with Alcaraz taking the match out of his hands in the previous period. 

On his fourth match point, Alcaraz wrapped up the win in fitting fashion, following up more heavy hitting with another drop shot winner. It was his fourth break on 11 chances in the contest.

Seeking his third ATP Tour title in the past eight months, and his first at the Masters 100 level, Alcaraz will face Miomir Kecmanovic in the quarter-finals. The Serb advanced to his fourth straight quarter-final with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over Indian Wells champion Taylor Fritz in Hard Rock Stadium.

Kecmanovic outlasted the American, who was playing his ninth match in just over two weeks across the two U.S. coasts, over the course of two hours and six minutes. The 22-year-old did his damage early in sets two and three, taking the upper hand in the match by winning the first five games of the second. After Fritz saved four break points in the opening game of the final set, Kecmanovic made the crucial breakthrough to move ahead 2-1.

Fritz fought to the last ball, getting to 30-all or deuce in each of Kecmanovic’s last four service games, but the Serb saved the only break point he faced in the deciding set as he ended his opponent’s eight-match winning streak.

Prior to Alcaraz’s win on Grandstand, Hubert Hurkacz continued his Miami title defense with a 7-6(3), 6-2 win over the resurgent Lloyd Harris.

After saving two break points midway through a competitive opening set, the Pole won the last five points of the tie-break before Harris snapped back with an early break in the second. But that would be the last game the South African won in the match, as Hurkacz swept the final six games, including the final 16 points in a row.

Hurkacz sets up a showdown against World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev, who will return to the top of the ATP Rankings with a quarter-final win.

The Miami Open presented by Itau edges closer to the business end as Hard Rock Stadium plays host to the first two quarter-final matchups on Wednesday. Second seed Alexander Zverev seeks to remain unbeaten against Casper Ruud, while 2021 finalist Jannik Sinner takes on Francisco Cerundolo, the World No. 103 enjoying a dream run on debut in south Florida.

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[2] Alexander Zverev (GER) vs. [6] Casper Ruud (NOR)

It’s a third ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final showdown for Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud.

The pair met in the last eight at the Western & Southern Open and the Rolex Paris Masters in 2021, with Zverev coming out on top in straight sets in both. The 2018 finalist Zverev has looked back to his best in Miami so far after a tough start to the year and produced a solid all-round performance to down Thanasi Kokkinakis in the fourth round, but the second seed will not take anything for granted against Ruud.

“I think he [Ruud] is playing great tennis,” said Zverev after his win over Kokkinakis. “The way he beat Cameron Norrie [in the fourth round] on a hard court is quite impressive, and I think when he’s playing like that he can beat anybody.

“He’s somebody that really does not miss much. He’s somebody that tries to play aggressive with his forehand as well. [I have to] take away his strength in a way and we’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”

Ruud certainly showed off that ball-striking prowess in his straight-sets win over Norrie, dictating play from the baseline against one of the best defenders on Tour. His 6-3, 6-4 win means the Norwegian has dropped just 15 games on his way to the last eight.

The sixth seed had not won a match at the Miami event prior to this year but will now feel adding a first Masters 1000 title to his seven ATP 250 triumphs is a real possibility. The 23-year-old certainly has all the weapons required to test Zverev on Wednesday.

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[9] Jannik Sinner (ITA) vs. Francisco Cerundolo (ARG)

Argentine Francisco Cerundolo will aim to keep his dream run going in Miami when he plays ninth seed Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals.

The 23-year-old has made a stunning impression over the past week on his ATP Masters 1000 debut, upsetting seeds Reilly Opelka, Gael Monfils and Frances Tiafoe en route to the last eight. However, the World No. 103, who arrived in Florida with a 0-2 tour-level record on hard courts, will face his toughest test yet when he takes to court against #NextGenATP Italian Sinner for the first time.

Sinner negotiated a tricky fourth-round test by moving past Australian Nick Kyrgios 7-6(3), 6-3. The 20-year-old admitted that he feels comfortable playing in Florida but knows he will have to maintain his level to defeat the 23-year-old Cerundolo.

“I like the crowd. I like the situation here,” Sinner said. “Obviously every match here is very tough. Everyone deserves to be where they are. So the quarter-finals are going to be a tough match and I hope I will be prepared.”

Sinner has fond memories in Miami, having become just the fourth teenager to reach the championship match in the tournament’s 37-year history last season when aged 19. Only Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic had previously achieved the feat.

This year, the ninth seed saved eight match points across his first two matches in Miami before he eliminated Kyrgios to advance into the last eight. Sinner is a five-time tour-level titlist, but has yet to find the winning formula this season, with his best results in 2022 quarter-final runs at the Australian Open and the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Seeking their fourth ATP Tour title of the 2022 season, Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski eased into the last four at the Miami Open presented by Itau. The Dutch/British duo dominated from start to finish in a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Rohan Bopanna and Denis Shapovalov on Tuesday.

After coming together for the first time in January, Koolhof and Skupski won titles in three of their first six events as a team (Melbourne, Adelaide 2, Doha). After a run to the Indian Wells quarter-finals, they sit second in the ATP Doubles Team Rankings.

The 32-year-olds saved all four break points they faced to go one step further in Miami and reach their fifth semi-final of the season. They erased three break chances late in the first set to maintain their lead, then saved one more on a sudden-death match point as Bopanna and Shapovalov made a final charge.

From 40/0 in the match’s final game, the Indian/Canadian pairing saved three match points to bring to get to deuce, but could not extend the match beyond that sudden-death point.

The only team above Koolhof and Skupski in the 2022 doubles race is that of Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios. The reigning Australian Open champions also advanced to the semi-finals with a victory in the opposite half of the draw.

The Aussies poured it on late, winning nine of the last 11 games in a 7-5, 6-2 victory over third seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos. They saved the only two break points they faced in the match as they fought back from 30/40 to serve out the opening set.

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Still in action on Tuesday evening are Italy’s Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini against Argentia’s Federico Delbonis and Maximo Gonzalez. The winner there will face Koolhof/Skupski in the semis.

Second seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury are set to take on Hubert Hurkacz and John Isner in the fourth quarter-final on Wednesday for the right to challenge Kokkinakis/Kyrgios.

Two of the ATP Tour’s most recognisable faces returned to the match court on Tuesday after extended breaks due to injury.

Stan Wawrinka and Dominic Thiem both suffered losses at the AnyTech365 Andalucia Open, but for Wawrinka simply competing again represented a victory at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Marbella, Spain.

“I think physically it was good, it was really positive,” said the Swiss after his 6-2, 6-4 first-round loss to World No. 131 Elias Ymer at the outdoor clay event. “I was super happy to be back playing a tournament, to get the emotion, to get the stress of a match again.”

Wawrinka had not played since the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha in March 2021 due to a foot injury. After an extensive rehabilitation process, the 37-year-old was happy to finally make the move to the match court.

“I was focused on trying to do my best with the level I have right now, and I knew it would be difficult, but in general I think it’s only a positive week for me,” he said. “I’ve been practising well and I’m going to keep practising and keep building for the next few weeks.”

Wawrinka’s next tournament will be the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in mid-April, where he lifted the trophy in 2014, as he gears up for a Grand Slam comeback at Roland Garros. Despite having this schedule in place, the Swiss is putting no pressure on himself in terms of what he can achieve in his first months back on Tour.

“There is a short-term goal, and a long-term goal,” he said. “It’s tough to say about timing. There is a lot of time until the French Open, so for sure I will be a completely different player, physically and tennis-wise.

“I’m not worried at all. I need to focus on the moment, to focus on what I’m doing today to get to the level I want to be [at].”

For 2020 US Open champion Thiem it has been nine months out with an injury to his right wrist. The Austrian last played on the grass at the Mallorca Championships in June and on Tuesday was beaten 6-3, 6-4 by World No. 228 Pedro Cachin.

The 28-year-old acknowledged it had been a difficult road back when he announced his participation at the Marbella event via an Instagram post on 25 March. “It’s been a very, very tough period for me and to go back to competition is what I have been waiting for so long and as you know I had a lot of setbacks,” wrote Thiem. “I know this will be a slow process of getting back to the top level, but I am ready to work hard and start humble.”

Thiem’s return coincides with the start of the clay-court season, giving him the opportunity to ease back in on a surface he has always enjoyed. The Austrian has won 10 of his 17 ATP Tour titles on the red dirt and he reached the championship match at Roland Garros in 2018 and 2019.

Wawrinka and Thiem’s appearance in Marbella marks the first time that two former Top 3 players have competed at the same Challenger Tour event. Former Top 50 stars Philipp Kohlschreiber, Pablo Andujar and Jiri Vesely have all advanced to the second round in Spain, as has 2020 and 2021 finalist Jaume Munar.

Matteo Berrettini announced on Instagram Tuesday that he underwent a “minor operation” on his right hand following his withdrawal from the Miami Open presented by Itau.

“My team and I have been speaking to medical experts since my withdrawal from Miami with a right hand injury,” Berrettini wrote. “Following multiple scans and assessments we decided a minor operation was the best solution to ensure a full and quick recovery.

“Earlier today I had the operation and I’m happy to report it went extremely well. My doctor and team are already discussing plans for me to get back on court. I will provide an update as soon as this plan is finalised. Thanks very much as always for all the support.” 

 

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The Italian last competed at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where he lost in the fourth round against Miomir Kecmanovic. The two-time Nitto ATP Finals competitor is 9-6 on the season, including a run to the Australian Open semi-finals.

Daniil Medvedev moved to within one victory of reclaiming the No. 1 spot in the ATP Rankings Tuesday at the Miami Open presented by Itau, overcoming Jenson Brooksby 7-5, 6-1.

The 26-year-old, who is making his fourth appearance in Florida, rallied from 3-5 in the first set as he soaked up Brooksby’s variety of shots in a controlled performance to advance into the quarter-finals after 80 minutes.

“Jenson has the potential to be a top player,” Medvedev said in his on-court interview. “He is really good and plays better than his ranking. I knew it was not going to be an easy match. I had no solutions at the beginning. The crucial moment was when I managed to make him serve for the set and he got a little bit tight and I played a bit better.”

Medvedev will next face reigning Miami champion Hubert Hurkacz or South African Lloyd Harris, knowing a win would move him back to World No. 1 on Monday, two weeks after he lost top spot to Novak Djokovic.

The Balance of Power analysis from Tennis Data Innovation shows the dramatic turnaround in how the match was played between sets. Brooksby had a slight edge in BOP in the first set when he made an explosive start, but Medvedev had a massive nine percentage points advantage in playing from attacking positions when he dominated the second set. (Learn more about Balance of Power)

Set One Balance of Power

Set Two Balance of Power

The top seed is bidding to win his first trophy of the season this week, having reached the final at the Australian Open and the last four at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC in Acapulco.

Medvedev, who spent three weeks as the World No. 1 from 28 February to 21 March this year, is a four-time ATP Masters 1000 champion. With his victory over American Brooksby, the World No. 2 equalled his best result in Miami, after also advancing to the last eight in 2021.

Medvedev started slowly against Brooksby on Hard Rock Stadium as he struggled to cope with the World No. 39’s intensity and shot variation. However, Medvedev is not a 13-time tour-level titlist for nothing, and he found his range when it mattered most, breaking back to level at 5-5.

From there he put his foot on the pedal, hitting with great accuracy, depth and precision to force Brooksby into errors. Medvedev limited the unforced error count in the second set and rolled off 10 of the final 11 games, firing the ball through the court with great power to advance in their first ATP Head2Head meeting.

“Sometimes I am not that intense on court, so today I tried to pump myself up,” Medvedev added. “I had to try and close it out as fast as possible. I had to fight for every point.”

Brooksby defeated Federico Coria, Nikoloz Basilashvili and Roberto Bautista Agut to reach the fourth round. The 21-year-old was aiming to reach the quarter-finals at a Masters 1000 tournament for the first time.

Jannik Sinner saved eight match points across his first two matches at the Miami Open presented by Itau, but on Tuesday he did not need to toe the limit so closely. The ninth seed played his best tennis against the red-hot Nick Kyrgios, defeating the Australian 7-6(3), 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals at Hard Rock Stadium.

“Today I raised a little bit my level,” Sinner said in his on-court interview. “I had to, because he’s a very aggressive player, especially when he serves well. I’m very happy about my performance today.”

The 20-year-old made his first ATP Masters 1000 final one year ago in Miami on his tournament debut, and he is now 8-1 at the event. Sinner will next play 28th seed Frances Tiafoe or Argentine Francisco Cerundolo.

In the pair’s first ATP Head2Head clash, Kyrgios, who lost a combined nine games against seeded opponents Andrey Rublev and Fabio Fognini, seemed keen on making another quick start. Sinner was forced to save a break point in two of his first three service games, but he held on in those moments, and neither man lost serve in the opening set.

“I think when I saved a couple of break points early in the first set, it raised my confidence a little bit,” Sinner said. “Then it was not easy on this one side where the sun was completely in the eye, which you have to manage a little bit the situation also.”

BLOCKBUSTER from Sinner 🚀@janniksin #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/9H1QFjgwxy

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 29, 2022

It all came apart for Kyrgios in the ensuing tie-break. Sinner gave him no free points early on, and the Australian then received a point penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct following chatter about the chair umpire. Kyrgios was unable to overcome that, eventually hitting a frustrated double fault to lose the set.

The wild card then smashed his racquet against his bag and the court, which led to him receiving a game penalty. That cost the Aussie dearly, as he was set to serve to start the second set. It essentially gave Sinner a break advantage to begin the second set, which the five-time ATP Tour titlist took full advantage of.

Kyrgios had some high moments, hitting a flurry of volleys on one point, finishing the sequence with a stunning drop volley. In the final game of the match, he also hit an impressive forehand volley on the full stretch against an approaching Sinner.

But Sinner was the more consistent of the two players, especially from his ground. His easy power prevented Kyrgios from controlling the action and put pressure on him to make poor shot selection.

“I think he’s very solid on his backhand, which he plays very, very flat,” Sinner said. “I tried to somehow move him a little bit, trying to make him a little bit off balance, especially trying to get as many balls in return games in the court, which today I think I did very well.