Miami Day 6 Preview & Schedule: Medvedev, Tsitsipas & Alcaraz In Action

The third round reaches its conclusion at the Miami Open presented by Itau on Monday, as #NextGenATP Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz takes on 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic. Stefanos Tsitsipas aims to maintain his unbeaten record against Alex de Minaur, while Daniil Medvedev takes on Pedro Martinez seeking to move a step closer to both a first Miami title and a return to World No. 1.

[14] Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) vs. [21] Marin Cilic (CRO)

Carlos Alcaraz completed another first in his young career by beating Marton Fucsovics in the second round to notch his maiden match win in Miami, but the 18-year-old will hope that is just the beginning of another fairytale run as he prepares to do battle with 21st seed Marin Cilic in the third round.

Alcaraz has started 2022 in red-hot form. He picked up his maiden ATP 500 title on the Rio clay in February and surged to the semi-finals in Indian Wells without dropping a set before being edged out by Rafael Nadal.

Confidence is high for the Spaniard, but Cilic is an experienced campaigner who possesses enough weapons to hurt any opponent on Tour. The former World No. 3 also knows what it takes to go all the way at ATP Masters 1000 level, having triumphed at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati in 2016.

The Croatian came out on top in his only previous meeting with Alcaraz in Estoril last year and is seeking to reach the fourth round in Miami for the fifth time. Whether his experience will be enough to derail the youthful Alcaraz once again remains to be seen.

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[3] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) vs. [25] Alex de Minaur (AUS)

Whoever comes out on top in the Alcaraz-Cilic clash will face a fourth-round meeting with Stefanos Tsitsipas or Alex de Minaur. Tsitsipas had no time to ease himself in at Hard Rock Stadium this week as he was immediately plunged into a three-set battle with American qualifier J.J. Wolf in his opening match, but the third seed survived as he hunts his first title of 2022 in south Florida.

The history books heavily favour the Greek in his third-round clash with de Minaur. Tsitsipas holds a 7-0 ATP Head2Head series lead over the 25th seed, but will take nothing for granted against a player renowned for leaving everything out on court.

“He’s a fighter,” said Tsitsipas of de Minaur after his victory over Wolf on Saturday. “I really hope to bring out the same kind of level that I brought in the third set and maintain that throughout the match.”

De Minaur enjoyed a comfortable straight-sets win over fellow Aussie Jordan Thompson in the second round, his maiden main-draw win in Miami. Tsitsipas’ 2021 run to the quarter-finals is his best effort so far as the third seed seeks a second Masters 1000 title.

[1] Daniil Medvedev vs. Pedro Martinez (ESP)

Three opponents stand between Daniil Medvedev and a return to the top of the ATP Rankings. The 2021 US Open champion knows reaching the semi-finals in Miami will be enough to get back to No. 1 after two weeks away, and his third-round assignment is a matchup with Spaniard Pedro Martinez.

Despite the prospect of returning to top spot looming large, Medvedev certainly looked focused in his second-round victory over Andy Murray. The top seed was relieved to get through a tough opening draw and admitted it had got his competitive juices flowing after plenty of time on the practice court since his third-round exit at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

“It’s never easy, first-round matches, even if you practise on the same courts for one or two months, it’s never going to be the same as a competitive tournament match,” he said after the win over Murray. “I’m happy that I managed to have zero break points against me. I feel like I have some room for improvement, but it was a great match against an amazing player.”

His opponent Martinez propelled himself into the Top 50 for the fast time with his maiden ATP Tour title in Santiago in February. He beat 27th seed Cristian Garin on Saturday to reach the third round of a hard-court Masters 1000 event for the first time, but the pair’s only previous meeting at the 2020 Australian Open ended in a straight-sets victory for Medvedev.

Defending Champ Hurkacz In Action, Fritz Leads American Charge

Hubert Hurkacz showed no sign of nerves on his return to Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday, a year after clinching the biggest title of his career at the 2021 tournament in Miami.

The Pole took out big-serving Arthur Rinderknech in straight sets in his second-round match and now faces another player with plenty of weapons in 29th seed Aslan Karatsev. The pair is tied with a 1-1 ATP Head2Head series record, and Hurkacz’s title defence could come under serious threat if three-time ATP Tour titlist Karatsev can find his best level.

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A host of talented young Americans are also in third-round action on Monday, headlined by the clash between Indian Wells champion Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul.

Fritz produced a solid opening match against Mikhail Kukushkin and is looking forward to taking on World No. 37 Paul despite the pair enjoying a close friendship off-court. “It’s never easy playing one of your best friends,” said Fritz after his second-round win. “But in the past, I have done well when playing my friends. It’s going to be a really tough match because he’s playing well.”

Fritz and Paul’s ATP Head2Head series is tied at 1-1, with both previous tour-level meetings taking place in 2021.

After surging to the quarter-finals on Miami debut in 2021 and breezing through this year’s opening match against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Sebastian Korda had to put in the hard yards to overcome Albert-Ramos-Vinolas in three sets in the second-round. The #NextGenATP star takes on Miomir Kecmanovic, the two-time Indian Wells quarter-finalist now chasing a first fourth-round appearance in Miami, in the pair’s first tour-level meeting.

Jenson Brooksby rounds out the Americans in action on day six as he faces 15th seed Roberto Bautista Agut for the first time, while South Africa’s Lloyd Harris will look to back up his second-round upset of 12th seed Denis Shapovalov when he takes on Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka.

ORDER OF PLAY – MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2022

STADIUM start 12:00 noon
ATP – [1] D. Medvedev vs P. Martinez (ESP)

Not Before 1:00 PM
WTA – A. Riske (USA) vs N. Osaka (JPN)
WTA – [14] C. Gauff (USA) vs M. Brengle (USA) or I. Swiatek (POL)

Not Before 7:00 pm
ATP – [3] S. Tsitsipas (GRE) vs [25] A. de Minaur (AUS)

Not Before 9:00 PM
WTA – [5] P. Badosa (ESP) vs [WC] L. Fruhvirtova (CZE)

GRANDSTAND start 11:00 am
WTA – [9] D. Collins (USA) vs [8] O. Jabeur (TUN)
ATP – [29] A. Karatsev vs [8] H. Hurkacz (POL)
ATP – [21] M. Cilic (CRO) vs [14] C. Alcaraz (ESP)
ATP – [11] T. Fritz (USA) vs T. Paul (USA)

Not Before 7:00 PM
WTA – L. Davis (USA) or P. Kvitova (CZE) vs [21] V. Kudermetova

BUTCH BUCHHOLZ start 11:00 am
WTA – [WC] D. Saville (AUS) vs [LL] L. Bronzetti (ITA)
ATP – L. Harris (RSA) vs [Q] Y. Nishioka (JPN)
WTA – A. Sasnovich vs [22] B. Bencic (SUI)
ATP – S. Korda (USA) vs M. Kecmanovic (SRB)
WTA – [16] J. Pegula (USA) vs A. Kalinina (UKR)

COURT 1 start 11:00 am
ATP – J. Brooksby (USA) vs [15] R. Bautista Agut (ESP)
ATP – S. Bolelli (ITA) / F. Fognini (ITA) vs I. Dodig (CRO) / M. Melo (BRA)

Not Before 3:00 pm
ATP – T. Brkic (BIH) / N. Cacic (SRB) or [Alt] M. Cilic (CRO) / L. Kubot (POL) vs [3] M. Granollers (ESP) / H. Zeballos (ARG)

COURT 7 start 11:00 am
WTA – [7] D. Krawczyk (USA) / D. Schuurs (NED) vs [DA SR] K. Flipkens (BEL) / S. Mirza (IND)
WTA – [6] G. Dabrowski (CAN) / G. Olmos (MEX) vs [DA SR] L. Siegemund (GER) / V. Zvonareva
WTA – A. Rosolska (POL) / E. Routliffe (NZL) vs A. Muhammad (USA) / E. Shibahara (JPN)

After Suitable Rest
WTA – [4] C. Gauff (USA) / C. McNally (USA) vs A. Guarachi (CHI) / Y. Xu (CHN)