Reigning Miami Open champion Daniil Medvedev and top seed Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the tournament quarterfinals on Tuesday with convincing victories.
Medvedev claimed a 7-6 (7/5), 6-0 victory over Germany’s Dominik Koepfer while Alcaraz took care of Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti with a 6-3, 6-3 win in 85 minutes .
Second seed Jannik Sinner of Italy also advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Australian Christopher O’Connell 6-4, 6-3.
Alcaraz, who is aiming for the “Sunshine Double” after his victory at Indian Wells, was too much for 23rd-seeded Musetti, although the Italian certainly contributed to a crowd-pleasing contest.
The stadium court erupted after a rally in the third game of the second set, Musetti cut the ball between his legs, lobbing Alcaraz, but the Spaniard returned it with a “tweener” to lose the point on a deft volley to the net.
But overall it was a comfortable match for Alcarez whose overall game looks in good shape.
“I tried to play my game, play aggressive shots, go to the net, drop shots, my style in general and I think I did pretty well and I’m happy with the performance,” said the Spaniard, enthusiastic about his form.
“I don’t know if it’s the best game I’ve played but it’s definitely the best feeling. I feel good on the pitch, I move well, I’m not injured and I don’t think anymore on my ankle… it’s the best feeling since the summer,” he added.
In the quarters, Alcaraz will face the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who beat the Pole Hubert Hurkacz, triumphing in the tie-break of the third set for a victory 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).
Slow start
Medvedev made an unusually sloppy start on the Stadium court, with a series of unforced errors, and found himself trailing 4-0 in the first set tie-break.
But after overturning that deficit, Medvedev won all remaining matches showing that, despite his concerns about the rapid deterioration of balls on the hard surface, he is comfortable with the conditions.
The Russian suggested Koepfer had struggled to recover from the shock of seeing his tiebreak lead disappear.
“I think sometimes that happens, when you lose the first set the same way he lost it. He played very well, he was probably closer to victory because of the 4/0 in the tie-break and when you lose a set like that, especially when the points were difficult, it lowers your energy,” he said. declared.
“I knew I had to use that at the start of the second set. That’s why it was the most important and I managed to do it. It happens sometimes, but the level was high today,” he added.
World number four Medvedev will face Chilean Nicolas Jarry who beat seventh-seeded Norwegian Ruud with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 victory.
Cheered on by a large contingent of Chilean fans, Jarry took 39 wins to Ruud’s 17 and was delighted with his progress into the quarter-finals.
“I’m very happy with the way I played. I was very strong on the court and didn’t miss many easy balls. The conditions were so harsh. The wind was extreme and so was Casper, he’s a grinder,” he said.
Italian Sinner trailed 3-1 in the first set against O’Connell, with the Australian cleverly mixing up his approach, asking various questions of his Italian opponent.
He faced a potential double break at 0-30 but responded strongly to come back and win the set after 58 minutes.
The second set was easier for Sinner who broke O’Connell’s first service game and then took care of business to close out the victory.
“He started very well, I made a few mistakes. When you’re down, especially at the beginning, it’s always difficult, also mentally,” Sinner said.
Sinner will face the Czech Tomas Machac who reached the quarters with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over another Italian, Matteo Arnaldi.
Hungarian Fabian Marozsan, ranked 57th in the world, continued his impressive run with another surprising victory, triumphing 6-4, 0-6, 6-1 over ninth-seeded Australian Alex de Minaur.
Maroszan, who will enter the top 40 in Monday’s rankings, is playing only his fourth Masters 1000 tournament and will play his second quarter-final at this level against the winner of the match between Alexander Zverev and Karen Khachanov which will be played later. Tuesday.
