On March 26, defending Miami Open winner Daniil Medvedev and top seed Carlos Alcaraz both won handily to advance to the tournament’s quarterfinals.
In eighty-five minutes, Medvedev defeated German Dominik Koepfer 7-6 (7-5), 6-0, and Alcaraz defeated Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 6-3.
Jannik Sinner, the second seed from Italy, advanced to the round of eight as well, defeating Australian Christopher O’Connell 6-4, 6-3.
Alcaraz, who is chasing the “Sunshine Double” after triumphing at Indian Wells, was too strong for Musetti, the 23rd seed, despite the Italian’s contribution to an entertaining match.
After a rally in the third game of the second set, when Musetti clipped the ball between his legs and lobbing Alcaraz, the stadium court erupted. However, the Spaniard returned the ball with a “tweener,” losing the point to a skillful volley at the net.
But all things considered, Alcarez, whose all-around game appears to be in good health, won easily.
The Spaniard, who was excited about his form, added, “I tried to play my game, to play aggressive shoots, go to the net, drop shots, my style in general and I think I did very well and I am delighted with the performance.”
“This feels like the best game I’ve ever played, although I’m not sure if it makes sense. It’s the finest feeling I’ve had since the summer, he continued. “I feel amazing on the court, I’m moving well, I am not injured, and I’m not thinking about my ankle anymore.”
Alcaraz will play Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals. Dimitrov defeated Pole Hubert Hurkacz, winning 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) in a third set tie-break.
Medvedev started the first set tie-break behind 4-0 after making an atypically careless sequence of unintentional errors on the Stadium court.
Despite his worries about the balls’ quick deterioration on the hard court surface, Medvedev proved he was comfortable with the circumstances by winning all the subsequent games after overturning that deficit.
The Russian implied that Koepfer had found it difficult to bounce back from the setback of losing his tie-break advantage.
“I believe that losing the opening set in the same manner that he did occasionally happens. He performed admirably and was arguably closer to winning it after the tie-break (4/0). “Losing a set like that, especially when the points were difficult, depletes your energy,” he added.
“I knew that at the start of the second set, I had to use that. It was therefore the most crucial, and I was able to complete it. That does happen occasionally, but today’s level was high,” he continued.
The fourth-ranked player in the world, Medvedev, will take on Nicolas Jarry of Chile, who defeated Ruud of Norway, the seventh seed, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.
Encouraged by a sizable group of Chilean fans, Jarry led Ruud with 39 wins to 17 and was thrilled to make it into the final eight.
“I’m really pleased with how I performed. On the court, I was really strong and rarely missed easy balls. The circumstances were really difficult. He remarked, “Casper is a grinder, and the wind was really bad.
In the opening match, Sinner fell behind 3-1 as the Australian deftly changed up his strategy and asked his Italian opponent a range of questions.
At 0–30, he might have faced a double break, but he rallied well to win the set in 58 minutes.
Sinner had an easier time in the second set, breaking O’Connell in his first serve game and winning easily after that.
“He got off to a great start; I made a few blunders.” It’s never easy being a break down, especially in the beginning,” Sinner remarked.
Sinner’s opponent in the quarterfinals will be Czech Tomas Machac, who defeated Matteo Arnaldi, another Italian, 6-3, 6-3.
