Alcaraz Bakes A Bagel, Hangs On At Miami Masters, Ruud Out; Medvedev Gets Mon. Walkover

The first seven matches of the Miami Masters third round all went straight sets. World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz continued his title defense topping Dusan Lajovic 6-0, 7-6(7-5).

The 19-year-old Alcaraz was 4 of 5 on break chances in the win which improves his record to 16-1 on the season.

“I feel fast on court, I am moving well,” Alcaraz told the ATP. “I am happy with the variety I am playing [with]. Lots of shots. I am enjoying every single second out there.”

The Serb slips to 2-14 against Top 5 players and 0-4 against Alcaraz.

American No. 1 Taylor Fritz got the better of 24th-seeded Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-4. Fritz lost only 6 points on first serve and never faced a break point. Fritz broke for 4-3 in the first and 2-1 in the second.

“I couldn’t really find that attacking formula because he was hitting the ball so hard and he was hitting his second serve so big,” Fritz said. “It turned more into making balls and being steady. Because when he was putting balls in the court, I couldn’t attack much off that.”

Also on Sunday, No. 6 seed Andrey Rublev dominated No. 29 seed Miomir Kecmanovic 6-1, 6-2. Seventh-seeded Holger Rune ousted the 31st-seeded Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 6-2 to set up a meeting with Fritz. The 10th-seed and former runner-up Jannik Sinner got by 21st-seeded Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets 6-3, 6-4. Tommy Paul eliminated (Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 7-5 and Emil Ruusuvuori beat (Japan’s Taro Daniel 6-3, 7-6(7-3).

In the late match, 2022 runner-up Casper Ruud struggles continued as he fell to Dutchman Botic Van De Zandschulp 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Ahead tomorrow, matches slated in third round play includes No. 2 Stefanos Tsitsipas taking on Cristian Garin. Tsitsipas is a perfect 2-0 against Garin winner their last meeting at the 2021 Monte Carlo Masters.

No. 5 Felix Auger-Aliassime will battle No. 25 Francisco Cerundolo, No. 8 Hubert Hurkacz draws Adrian Mannarino, No. 12 Frances Tiafoe clashes with Lorenzo Sonego, No. 14 Karen Khachanov will battle Jiri Lehecka, Gregoire Barrere tests Christopher Eubanks and also Mackenzie McDonald squares off against Quentin Halys.

Daniil Medvedev was slated to meet Alex Molcan but the Slovakian has already withdrawn with a hip injury. Medvedev is 20-1 in his last 21 matches.

MONDAY MIAMI MASTERS SCHEDULE
STADIUM
Matches Start At: 12:00 noon
ATP [Q] Cristian GARIN (CHI) vs Stefanos TSITSIPAS (GRE) [2]
Not Before 1:00 PM
WTA Jessica Pegula (USA) [3] vs Magda Linette (POL) [20]
WTA Elena Rybakina (KAZ) [10] vs Elise Mertens (BEL)

Not Before 7:00 pm
ATP Lorenzo SONEGO (ITA) vs Frances TIAFOE (USA) [12]
Barbora Krejcikova (CZE) [16] vs Aryna Sabalenka [2]

GRANDSTAND
Matches Start At: 11:00 am
WTA Martina Trevisan (ITA) [25] vs Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) [24]
ATP Quentin HALYS (FRA) vs Mackenzie MCDONALD (USA)
ATP Felix AUGER-ALIASSIME (CAN) [5] vs Francisco CERUNDOLO (ARG) [25]
ATP Hubert HURKACZ (POL) [8] vs Adrian MANNARINO (FRA)

Not Before 7:00 PM
WTA Bianca Andreescu (CAN) vs Ekaterina Alexandrova [18]