Medvedev To Meet Brooksby In Backboard Battle, Tsitsipas v Alcaraz In Miami

The third round of the men’s draw wrapped up Monday at the Miami Masters, giving way to a strong day of fourth round matches tomorrow.

Top seed and tournament favorite Daniil Medvedev moved closer to a first Miami semifinal, cruising past Pedro Martinez 6-3, 6-4.

“I just felt like I had to be more consistent, and the more consistent one today would win,” said Medvedev. “I managed to just make a few less errors at important moments, serve even better, and it was a small margin but I managed to win and I’m really happy.”

The Russian will return to No. 1 by reaching the semifinal, a stage he’s never made in Miami.

He’ll return tomorrow to take on Jenson Brooksby who continued his rise coming from 0-4 down in the third to win six straight games and take the win 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

Bautista Agut served at 4-0 but appeared to run out of gas despite the cooler-than-normal conditions. And early in the third, it was Brooksby looking weary.

“I’m happy to get through that one. I thought my competing today was a lot better. Still a little streaky, but usually it would be easy to mentally fold in that situation, I think,” Brooksby said. “But I stayed really mentally strong, I competed until the end and it went my way.”

Indian Wells champion Taylor Fritz won his eighth straight match easing past Tommy Paul 7-6(2), 6-4.

“Obviously my body is feeling it a bit, but I’m kind of just thinking I’m playing good, my confidence is high, so I want to keep riding it out as much as possible instead of the other way you can go, which is kind of being satisfied and being, ‘Oh, I did really well this week, it’s okay if I don’t do so well the next week,'” Fritz said. “I kind of just kept telling myself to not be satisfied with doing well in Indian Wells. I want to do well here.”

Next for Fritz tomorrow is the surprising Miomir Kecmanovic who ousted Sebastian Korda in straight sets.

Teen sensation Carlos Alcaraz improved to 14-2 on the season dispatching former US Open champion Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4. The Spaniard will now face Stefanos Tsitsipas on Tuesday in a tasty showdown.

The Greek played some good tennis in the evening eliminating Alex De Minaur 6-4, 6-3 to improve to 8-0 against the Australian.

Tsitsipas fell to Alcaraz in a final set breaker in a thrilling US Open collision.

“I’m going to try and fight. He’s a great player,” said Tsitsipas. “For me, it is going to be a big challenge to step out on the court. I like these kinds of challenges. I’m going to put my soul out there and give it my all.”

No 18-year-old has ever won Miami. Sinner was 19 last year when he made the final.

Defending champion Hubert Hurkacz also advanced as did Lloyd Harris who made his first Masters fourth round.

Also tomorrow, Nick Kyrgios takes on 2021 finalist Jannik Sinner, and another finalist, Alexander Zverev, takes on Kyrgios’s buddy Thanasi Kokkinakis.

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