MIAMI – The Miami Open men’s draw is shaping up to be a battle of the defending champion and the young guns, as Daniil Medvedev, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner all marched into the quarter-finals with convincing victories.
Medvedev, who beat Sinner in the 2023 final, earned a 7-6 (7-5), 6-0 win over Germany’s Dominik Koepfer on March 26 while top seed Alcaraz took care of Italian Lorenzo Musetti with a 6-3, 6-3 victory.
Second seed Sinner of Italy also moved into the last eight, beating Christopher O’Connell of Australia 6-4, 6-3.
Alcaraz, who is searching for the “Sunshine Double” after winning in Indian Wells, was too much for 23rd seed Musetti although the Italian certainly contributed to a crowd-pleasing contest.
Stadium court erupted after a rally in the third game of the second set saw Musetti clip the ball between his legs, lobbing Alcaraz but the Spaniard returned it with a “tweener” only to lose the point to a deft volley at the net.
But overall it was a comfortable match for Alcaraz, 20, whose all-round game looks in strong shape.
“I don’t know if this is the best game I’ve played but without a doubt it is the best feeling,” he said.
“I feel great on the court, I’m moving great, I am not injured and not thinking about my ankle anymore… it’s the best feeling since the summer.”
In the quarters, Alcaraz will face Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who beat Pole Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).
Medvedev, 28, made an unusually sloppy start on Stadium court, with a series of unforced errors, and found himself trailing 4-0 in the first set tie-break.
But having overturned that deficit, he went on to win all the remaining games as he showed that, despite his concerns over the rapid deterioration of balls on the hard-court surface, he is comfortable with the conditions.
The Russian suggested that Koepfer had struggled to recover from the blow of seeing his tie-break lead vanish.
“I think sometimes it happens, when you lose the first set the way he lost it,” he said.
“He played very good, probably was closer to winning it because of the 4/0 in the tie-break and when you lose such a set… it brings your energy down.”
Medvedev will next face Chilean Nicolas Jarry, who upset Norwegian seventh seed Ruud with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 win.
Sinner trailed 3-1 in the first set against O’Connell, as the Australian cleverly mixed up his approach, asking a variety of questions of his Italian opponent.
He faced a potential double break at 0-30 but responded strongly to come back and take the set after 58 minutes.
The second set was more straightforward for the 22-year-old, who broke O’Connell’s first service game and then took care of business to wrap up the win.
“He started off really well, I made a couple of mistakes. When you are a break down especially in the beginning, it’s always tough, also mentally,” he said.
Sinner will face Czech Tomas Machac, who eased into the quarters with a 6-3, 6-3 win over another Italian, Matteo Arnaldi. AFP
