Miami Open: Cameron Norrie beaten as Daniil Medvedev fights off cramps to win
Britain’s Cameron Norrie loses to Taylor Fritz in the Miami Open third round as top seed Daniil Medvedev overcomes leg cramps to advance.
Britain’s Cameron Norrie loses to Taylor Fritz in the Miami Open third round as top seed Daniil Medvedev overcomes leg cramps to advance.
Marton Fucsovics might be careful what he publicly wishes for given his hopes of never playing Russia’s Andrey Rublev again this season are about to vanish after only 11 days. It stands to reason two of the most in-form players of 2021 will cross paths more often.
But after four straight defeats to the 23-year-old since October, the Hungarian World No. 40 is banking on the score beginning to tilt more in his favour. On Tuesday, he will have the chance to exact revenge in the third round of the Miami Open presented by Itau.
The pair would have squared off at their past four ATP Tour events had Fucsovics not conceded a walkover ahead of the Qatar Open quarter-final at the beginning of the month. Unfortunate luck with draws aside, it points to the 29-year-old’s run of form this season that he is putting himself in positions to face the World No. 8 so often.
“I hope I don’t play you anymore this year,” Fucsovics joked to the Russian as he left the court, following a quarter-final defeat in Dubai this month. It drew a laugh from Rublev, given he had just extended his ATP Head2Head record to 3-1 over his opponent.
While victory over Rublev has proven just out of reach since a win in 2017, Fucsovics has added some big names to his tally of victims in the past six months. Before having his run halted by the Russian in a tight fourth-round clash at Roland Garros last October, he had stunned fourth seed Daniil Medvedev in the opening round.
In February, he saved three match points to defeat former champion Stan Wawrinka in a fifth-set Match Tie-break in the second round of the Australian Open. That four-hour triumph was a nod to what the Hungarian assessed as his greatest qualities.
“I think I’m a fighter, but my game has improved a lot, my serve improved a lot,” he told ATPTour.com in Miami. “I think I’m very consistent from the baseline, I’m moving well around the court and I never get tired.”
The World No. 40 won six straight matches from qualifying to reach his maiden ATP 500 final at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam earlier this month. Rublev had his number there, however the result launched him back into the Top 50 of the FedEx ATP Rankings for the first time since October.
No. 7 in the FedEx ATP Race to Turin, Fucsovics is building his best start to a season. It has been a long time coming after hugely promising results as a junior.
“In the juniors I was No. 1, I won Wimbledon, I won [the] US Open in doubles,” he said. “I started to play juniors at 17.5, so pretty late, but I came up very quickly in the rankings. I had good skills and I was talented, but after I finished juniors it was tough times…
“I was playing a lot of Futures tournaments. I started to play when I was 16, got my first ranking point at 16, but the big results didn’t come so I went back to juniors to play more matches.”
Having made the move to Germany at age 14 to advance his opportunities, Fucsovics made the decision to move home to Hungary eight years later. Despite priding himself on his work ethic, he was struggling with the transition to the professional ranks and it took a compatriot who had paved the road before him to set him on his own path to success.
“I moved back to Hungary when I was 22. I was coached by a Hungarian former Top 100 player Attila Savolt,” he said. “He helped me through the tough periods to break into the Top 100. He shared a lot of experience with me and he showed me how to work really hard on and off court as well so I worked very hard physically and this is one of my weapons on the tour now.”
His hopes of avoiding Rublev for the remainder of 2021 may be short-lived, but there are bigger wishes at play.
“I’m 40 now in the ranking,” Fucsovics said. “My dream is to be a Top 10 player.”
World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev won “one of the sweetest victories” of his career on Sunday at the Miami Open presented by Itau after fighting through painful cramps for the majority of his third set in a gruelling 7-6(3), 6-7(7), 6-4 battle against Alexei Popyrin.
As if letting three match points slip away in the second set wasn’t already painful enough for the Russian, he was in for even more hurt as cramping soon set in.
“I think winning a Grand Slam final in three sets, straight sets, doesn’t feel the way I felt after the match point today,” Medvedev mused in his post-match press conference.
The top seed edged past 21-year-old Popyrin in a tight opening set, and was closing in on the victory with a break to the good in the second set. He hadn’t even faced a break point until he was serving for the match at 5-3 – and that’s when the contest took a turn.
After breaking back, Popyrin dug out three match points on his own serve and won the ensuing tie-break to send them into a decider. By that time, Medvedev was already asking the physio for electrolytes and bananas to stave off the cramping.
At one point, the 25-year-old was in so much pain that he appeared to be mouthing, “Ow, ow, ow” with each step on his way to the baseline. Staying upright was a battle for the visibly hobbled Medvedev, who also had to contend with the relentless hitting coming from Popyrin on the other side of the net.
“The only thing I was thinking about is not to fall down, because if [I] fall down, I don’t think I would be able to get up,” Medvedev said. “There were some moments where I just wanted to lay down and say, ‘Okay, it’s over.’ So I knew that that’s the thing I couldn’t accept myself to do.
“At the end it was just that I almost couldn’t walk. My legs were not following me. I couldn’t bend it or make it straight, I had to keep the same posture. I couldn’t make a step more than, I don’t know, 10 centimetres.”
Medvedev’s ordeal didn’t go unnoticed by Popyrin, who has regularly shared a practice court with the Russian player throughout 2021. In his post-match press conference, the Aussie admitted that his opponent’s dip in form threw off his game plan.
“When I saw him cramping a little bit, he was struggling a bit on the game that he broke me… Thinking back on it now and after talking with my team about it, [I] could have put a slider wide, a kick serve wide and made him run to the other corner and that would have been sufficient,” Popyrin said.
“But I tried to go for the serve that was working for me throughout the whole match. I think in these situations I’ve got to be a little bit smarter and read the situation, but that just comes with experience.”
Medvedev ultimately relied on his own strong serving to keep the points short and get out of trouble. Two hours after his match, the Russian was in good spirits at Hard Rock Stadium after intaking fluids and resting his legs. He told press that he has even more recovery planned for this evening, and will take full advantage of his day off on Monday to rest.
“I feel that it was a funny match in a way, a good match to remember. For me, of course, not for him,” Medvedev said with a wry smile. “You know, the funny thing is that I should have won in two sets. We would not be talking about any of these things, but here we are. So a match to remember, for sure.”
Top seed Medvedev awaits the winner of 16th seed Dusan Lajovic and Frances Tiafoe in the fourth round for a shot at his first Miami quarter-final berth.
Staying the distance through nearly three hours on court is a learning curve in itself, let alone switching between the full gamut of match conditions Jannik Sinner has experienced in recent weeks. The #NextGenATP Italian prevailed over 14th seed Karen Khachanov to reach the Round of 16 at the Miami Open presented by Itau on Sunday.
The 19-year-old’s 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 victory over the Russian came under sweltering Florida conditions in two hours and 50 minutes. It was not only the quality of the opponent, which made life difficult.
“After the first set, I tried to get out of this situation because at the end of the day we practise for these kind of tough matches, physically and mentally,” Sinner said. “This you’re learning in practice, with everything. So at the end today, I’m very happy about the win and I’m looking forward to playing another match after tomorrow.”
It was the third showdown that stretched the distance from as many ATP Head2Head encounters between the pair. Sinner now leads that ledger 2-1 and will brace for more Miami heat when he meets Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori for a place in the quarter-finals. The Finn backed up his upset of Alexander Zverev with a three-set triumph over Swede Mikael Ymer.
“It’s about trying to understand how to beat these guys, what can I improve more,” he said. “Trying to understand more the match, obviously it can give me a lot of confidence after today.
“Our call was to play Marseille, Dubai and then here knowing already before that every tournament has different situations, everything is different. I’m ready for that, trying to adapt in the best possible way in every tournament.”
Outdoor sports including football, golf and tennis can resume for amateur players in England from Monday as coronavirus restrictions are eased.
Felix Auger-Aliassime’s Miami Open presented by Itau campaign is over thanks to a familiar foe. The Canadian, though, drew plenty of positives from his second-round defeat to big-serving American John Isner.
It is a state of mind the 20-year-old admits holds him in good stead as he moves forward. The switch to clay beckoned following his 7-6 (5), 7-6(5) second-round loss on Grandstand.
“That’s the only way for me to get to where I want,” Auger-Aliassime said. “If I dwell on my losses and I don’t show a trait of character and resilience I’m not going in the right direction.
“So, no, today is tough loss, but I have to keep going forward. Honestly I’m playing well, I’m feeling good. In this period, as well, I don’t want to be too hard on myself. I think there has been tougher moments also.”
The loss marked the second time in succession he had fallen to Isner in Miami in two tie-break sets, having also gone down in the 2019 semi-finals by the same scoreline. Despite the defeat, the 11th seed actually claimed one more point on his first serve, hit only five aces fewer than Isner’s 16 and never faced a break point.
“We were both serving well. I mean, six and six I guess is a pretty common score against John,” he said. “Yeah, I think I was able to protect my serve well. Didn’t face a break point, so that was good on my part. Then I think I could have adjusted a few things, looking back on the return, to try to find a way to, I don’t know, even bunt a few returns in the court to make him play.
“But again, I was trying my best. In the tie-breaks it’s just a few points here and there. I played poor points at the start of both tie-breaks, and then it just, I guess, slipped out of my hands, really. It was a close one.”
Auger-Aliassime revealed the key to finding a read on the likes of Isner’s monster deliveries boiled down to one thing – focus. Handling the pace of serve alone was only part of the battle and the chances presented were usually fleeting.
“We get used to the speed, but it’s the precision and consistency of it,” he said. “When you get a guy like this, people have to understand the focus that it requires to be like this for, what is it, 26 games.
“You have to be focused on your serve too, because you know as soon as you get broken, it’s tough to come back… It’s tough to get a racquet on it. Even if you guess where it comes, sometimes it bounces high and so it’s super precise, not only powerful.”
Top seed Daniil Medvedev needed two tie-breaks, more than two-and-a-half hours, and lots of electrolytes to overcome an inspired Alexei Popyrin 7-6(3), 6-7(7), 6-4 at the Miami Open presented by Itau on Sunday.
The World No. 2 had three match points and served for the match in the second set, but found himself in for a war of attrition as the 21-year-old Aussie took them the distance on Grandstand.
“It’s probably one of the sweetest victories in my career, because I was cramping like hell in the third set,” Medvedev said in an on-court interview. “It’s one thing when you’re cramping when you’re [ahead in the score], but I started cramping before. It was tough to think about the win in these conditions.
“At the same time, I should have won in two sets and we would not be talking about cramping. But anyway, we have the result on the board and I’m happy that I managed to go through all the difficulties of this definitely crazy match.”
Medvedev brought a 2-0 ATP Head2Head lead into his clash against the Aussie, who has also been a regular practice partner throughout the season. It’s been a productive partnership for Medvedev, who has helped lead Russia to the ATP Cup title, reached his maiden Australian Open final and lifted the trophy at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille.
Popyrin, who claimed his first ATP Tour trophy at the Singapore Tennis Open in February, did well to stay with World No. 2. He matched Medvedev’s rhythm from the baseline and found more winners overall (12 to 11) in a tight opening set. But it was the unforced errors that would be his undoing under pressure in the first-set tie-break, as Medvedev closed it out.
He was in for a tougher test in the second set, although Medvedev looked in control after taking a 4-1 lead. The Aussie found another gear, and broke Medvedev from 0/40 for the first time as the Russian served for the match at 5-3. He earned a roar from fans as he saved three match points to levelled the score at 5-5, before converting his third set point to send them into a decider.
Only one break opportunity was on offer in the third set, and it went to the Russian. Medvedev was struggling physically as the match went on, requesting electrolytes from the physio and fighting cramps in the balmy South Florida sun. Medvedev kept the points short, and despite being visibly hobbled he sealed his spot in the fourth round after two hours and 39 minutes.
“Of course, it would have been better to just win it 6-3 in the second or 6-4 when I had a triple match point,” Medvedev said. “As soon as [a missed opportunity] happens you just focus on the next one, but the only thing is it was tough to focus on the next one because I felt the cramps coming. It was not easy.”
Looking to reach the quarter-finals in Miami for the first time, Medvedev will meet unseeded American Frances Tiafoe, who later overcame 16th seed Dusan Lajovic 1-6, 7-5, 6-3. The win was Tiafoe’s third consecutive from a set down this week and booked his third straight Round of 16 appearance in Miami, having advanced as far in 2018 and to the quarter-finals in 2019.
A maiden ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final will be on the line when No. 22 seed Taylor Fritz meets No. 32 seed Alexander Bublik. American Fritz overcame Brit Cameron Norrie 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 on Sunday to reach the Round of 16 for the first time, while Bublik defeated Australian James Duckworth 6-4, 6-4.
Karen Khachanov won the early battle against Jannik Sinner on Sunday, but the #NextGenATP star claimed the war.
Sinner outlasted the 14th seed 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 in a gut-busting clash of two hours and 50 minutes to advance to the Round of 16 at the Miami Open presented by Itau. The 19-year-old will play Emil Ruusuvuori or Mikael Ymer for a spot in the quarter-finals.
The 21st seed, who is physically fit, appeared fatigued just a few games into his physical match against Khachanov. There was more than 30 minutes of actions before the players got to the first changeover thanks to the second game, which went to 11 deuces. As Sinner served at 2-2, he even bent over after a point, showing the effects of the gruelling start.
Sinner was certainly ready go, but the big-hitting rallies point-in and point-out would take a toll on any player’s legs. Although Khachanov lost serve in the epic second game, he recovered better physically to power his way through the opening set.
[WATCH LIVE 1]His teenage opponent was not going to lay down, though. Sinner found a way to grind his way through the second-set tie-break, and in the decider both men raised their level, making few unforced errors. In the end, Sinner, nearly three hours into the marathon, used his legs to gain the critical advantage.
At 4-4, 40/40, with Khachanov serving, Sinner somehow sprinted up to get to a good half-volley by the Russian and found an incredible angle to earn break point. The Italian converted on the next point and then served out his victory.
That this was an epic was no surprise. Their first two clashes went to final-set tie-breaks, including a five-set win by Khachanov at last year’s US Open. Sinner now leads their ATP Head2Head series 2-1.
Did You Know?
The last time this tournament was held, in March 2019, Sinner was still outside the Top 300 of the FedEx ATP Rankings. Now, the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals champion is World No. 31.
Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski ended their 18-month partnership at the conclusion of the 2020 ATP Tour season, but that hasn’t stopped the pair from sharing the court in 2021.
Alongside Daniel Evans, Skupski overcame his former partner and Bruno Soares 5-7, 7-6(4), 10-7 on Sunday to reach the Miami Open presented by Itau quarter-finals. It is the second straight week that Skupski has beaten Murray in a Match Tie-break. The 31-year-old partnered his brother Ken Skupski to a 6-3, 3-6, 12-10 win over Murray and Soares en route to the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC trophy last week.
[WATCH LIVE 1]Evans and Skupski trailed 15/30 on serve at 5-6 in the second set, but they held their nerves to turn the match in their favour and reach the last eight in Miami. The British pair is making its debut in Miami this week.
The unseeded team will meet top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah or Marcelo Arevalo and Horia Tecau for a place in the semi-finals. Cabal and Farah are chasing their first title in Miami, with a runner-up finish in 2014 their best result.
So far in 2021, Daniil Medvedev has led Russia to the ATP Cup title, reached his maiden Australian Open final and collected his 10th ATP Tour trophy at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille.
An interesting common denominator behind those title runs at the ATP Cup and Marseille? Pre-tournament practice sessions with Alexei Popyrin. The pair will meet on Sunday for a place in the Miami Open presented by Itau Round of 16.
[WATCH LIVE 1]During pre-season, Medvedev joined Popyrin for multiple practice sessions. The Russian also connected with the Aussie ahead of his trip to Marseille, where he beat Jannik Sinner and Pierre-Hugues Herbert en route to the title.
Medvedev has got to know his opponent well over the past few months, and he is aware of the threat that Popyrin will pose in Miami. The pre-season training sessions also proved a charm for the 21-year-old, who has compiled an 11-3 record and lifted his maiden ATP Tour title (Singapore) this year.
“He’s a great player. I think [he is] still young, still coming up,” said Medvedev. “Great strokes, great serve. Solid baseline player, but he can go to the net, hit winners from all corners of the court. It’s going to be a tough match. [I am] looking forward to it.”
Knowledge may equal power for Medvedev, but that theory works both ways. Popyrin now has an improved understanding of the task that lies ahead on Grandstand, where he will aim to record the biggest win of his career.
“I know what to expect against him. I practised with him in pre-season, so we know each other pretty well,” said Popyrin. “It will be a tough match. I have never played anyone as high as No. 2 in the world.”
Popyrin will be aiming to earn his first win in the third match of his ATP Head2Head rivalry against the reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion. The World No. 86 pushed Medvedev to four sets at Wimbledon in 2019 and fell in straight sets to the Russian at last year’s Australian Open. When asked what the biggest challenge of facing Medvedev was, Popyrin provided an honest assessment.
“I think everything is challenging,” said Popyrin. “He is probably the best passer when you come to the net. He knows what to do when another guy comes to the net, you can’t overplay him from the baseline and he has got a massive serve. He is a great all-around player.”
In the first match of the day on Grandstand, Felix Auger-Aliassime will meet 2018 champion John Isner in a repeat of their 2019 semi-final at this event. On that occasion, Isner raised his level in crucial moments to defeat the 18-year-old 7-6(3), 7-6(4) and reach his second straight Miami final.
Auger-Aliassime, who won seven matches from qualifying en route to that semi-final encounter, will be the higher-ranked player for his second ATP Head2Head clash against the American. The 11th seed earned his 10th win of the season against Herbert to reach the Miami third round. Isner, the 18th seed, was forced to recover from a set down to defeat countryman Mackenzie McDonald 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 in his opening match.
On Court 1, Sinner and Karen Khachanov will meet for the third time in their ATP Head2Head rivalry. Both of their previous meetings went all the way to a final-set tie-break.
At last year’s US Open, Khachanov rallied from two sets down to defeat the #NextGenATP Italian 3-6, 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-0, 7-6(4). Sinner gained his revenge at last month’s Great Ocean Road Open, when he saved a match point to overcome Khachanov 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(4) in a thrilling, three-hour, seven-minute semi-final.
“I practise for having tough matches. I practise for staying in difficult situations. I practise especially for these kinds of matches,” Sinner said. “It’s going to be a tough match for sure for both of us. I know him quite well, he knows me quite well… It’s not going to be easy for us.”
Seventh seed Roberto Bautista Agut and 16th seed Dusan Lajovic will continue their Miami campaigns on Sunday. Bautista Agut will face 31st seed Jan-Lennard Struff in the opening match on Court 1, while Lajovic will close the night session on Grandstand against Frances Tiafoe. Alexander Zverev’s conqueror Emil Ruusuvuori, 22nd seed Taylor Fritz and 32nd Alexander Bublik also feature on the Court 1 schedule.
Watch Live | View TV Schedule
SCHEDULE – SUNDAY, 28 MARCH 2021
GRANDSTAND start 11:00 am
[11] F. Auger-Aliassime (CAN) vs [18] J. Isner (USA)
Not Before 1:00 pm
WTA MATCH
[1] D. Medvedev (RUS) vs A. Popyrin (AUS)
Not Before 7:00 pm
WTA MATCH
Not Before 8:30 pm
F. Tiafoe (USA) vs [16] D. Lajovic (SRB)
COURT 1 start 11:00 am
[31] J. Struff (GER) vs [7] R. Bautista Agut (ESP)
[21] J. Sinner (ITA) vs [14] K. Khachanov (RUS)
E. Ruusuvuori (FIN) vs M. Ymer (SWE)
C. Norrie (GBR) vs [22] T. Fritz (USA)
Not Before 7:00 pm
[32] A. Bublik (KAZ) vs J. Duckworth (AUS)
COURT 2 start 12:00 pm
D. Evans (GBR) / N. Skupski (GBR) vs [5] J. Murray (GBR) / B. Soares (BRA)
[4] I. Dodig (CRO) / F. Polasek (SVK) vs F. Auger-Aliassime (CAN) / H. Hurkacz (POL)
O. Marach (AUT) / L. Saville (AUS) vs K. Khachanov (RUS) / A. Rublev (RUS)
COURT 5 start 12:00 pm
WTA MATCH
Not Before 1:30 pm
[8] P. Herbert (FRA) / N. Mahut (FRA) vs M. Kecmanovic (SRB) / A. Qureshi (PAK)
[WC] S. Korda (USA) / M. Mmoh (USA) vs T. Puetz (GER) / A. Zverev (GER)
