Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas into Miami last 16; Rybakina advances

MIAMI: After a week off due to a first-round bye and a victory by walkover in the second round, world no.3 Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas hit the court on Monday evening, defeating Chilean qualifier Cristian Garin in three sets, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to enter the fourth round of Miami Open.

The Greek was playing for just the third time in the past month after he withdrew from Acapulco due to a shoulder injury and lost in the opening round in Indian Wells. He then received a first-round bye and a second-round walkover from Richard Gasquet in Miami.

“I was waiting for a very long time to get out and play. It has almost felt like a vacation this past week, staying in Miami. I’m glad I got started. It was a difficult match against an opponent who has played good tennis against good opponents in the past,” said Tsitsipas.

The World No. 3 Greek, who reached the quarterfinals in Miami in 2021, is chasing his third ATP Masters 1000 title this week. He will next meet Karen Khachanov, against whom he holds a 6-0 overall head-to-head record.

On the other hand, world no 5 Daniil Medvedev did not even have to enter the court, as he advanced to the fourth round due to the withdrawal of Slovakia’s Alex Molcan, with a right hip injury.

Medvedev’s next opponent will be Quentin Halys from France, who defeated Mackenzie McDonald of the USA 7-6(2), 6-3 in 1 hour and 41 minutes.

In other men's action, Argentine Francisco Cerundolo stunned fifth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-2, 7-5 to avenge his third-round loss to the Canadian two weeks ago.

World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka advanced to her fifth quarterfinal of the season after defeating No.16 seed Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 6-2 in the fourth round.

Elena Rybakina, the 10th seed, came back from a break down to grab the first set against Elise Mertens.

She then ramped up the pressure as she went up an early break in the second and never looked back as the Wimbledon champion moved into the quarter-finals with a 6-4 6-3 win.

Third seed Jessica Pegula beat Poland’s Magda Linette 6-1 7-5 in a match where she broke four times during a 28-minute first set and then erased a 5-2 double-break to avoid being pushed into a decider.

Pegula, a Miami semi-finalist last year who lives about 30 minutes from the tournament venue, has not dropped a set over her first threes matches and will next face Russia’s Anastasia Potapova, a 6-4 7-6(4) winner over China’s Qinwen Zheng.

In other action, Italian 25th seed Martina Trevisan enjoyed a 6-3 6-3 win over former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, the Latvian 24th seed, to reach the quarter-finals of a WTA 1000 event for the first time in her career. Agencies

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