Miami Master 1000: Francisco Cerúndolo, the only Argentine still standing

The Argentinian Francisco Cerúndolo (21st in the ATP ranking), defeated the Austrian Sebastian Ofner by 7-6 (7/2), 6-7 (2/7) and 6-1 in two hours and 15 minutes to advance to the 16th final of the Miami Master 1000, where He will face the Russian Karen Khachanov (16th) tomorrow, at 5:30 p.m.

The former Soviet is 2-0 in the history and, precisely in the Miami Masters 1000, last year, he eliminated him in the quarterfinals.

Sebastián Báez (19th), who came from a series of nine consecutive victories on the clay of South America where he won the titles in Rio de Janeiro and Santiago de Chile, He said goodbye in his debut against the German Dominik Koepfer (50th), who defeated him 6-3 and 6-2, while Tomás Etcheverry (30°) He couldn’t beat Andy Murray (62nd) and fell 7-6 (0) and 6-3.

Baez completed one of the worst games of his season. He was erratic at the back of the court, had a hard time generating winning shots and was outspeeded by the German left-hander.

The Argentine was not precise with his serve, a shot with which he played 73% of the points but in which he only won 63%.

On the other hand, Etcheverry, who arrived just enough in Miami, after recovering from a tear in the semimembranosus of his right leg, he could not against a Murray who ran and fought for every point,

The Argentine was able to keep the match controlled with his serve, to such a point that the first difference came only in the tiebreak of the initial set, at which time the Scot made no mistakes and took it without giving up a point.

Then, after losing serve in the sixth game of the second set, the Argentine was never able to take the lead from Murray despite having 0/40 in the last game of the match.

After the previous defeats of Diego Schwartzman, Pedro Cachin, Facundo Díaz Acosta and Nadia Podoroska, Francisco Cerúndolo was the only surviving Argento in the contest held in Florida.

Alcaraz and Sinner advance

The Spanish tennis player Carlos Alcaraz and the Italian Jannik Sinner They debuted with comfortable victories in a day that closed with the departure of Aryna Sabalenka, who was competing under the impact of the recent death of her ex-partner.

Six days after his triumph in Indian Wells (California), Alcaraz He reappeared with a relentless 6-2, 6-1 victory against his compatriot Roberto Carballés, to whom his 31st birthday was bitter.

“It was difficult to adapt my game to these conditions, because of the humidity, the court, the balls. But I think I did quite well. I am very happy with my performance,” declared Alcaraz after his eleventh straight victory against Spanish rivals.

Miami is the scene where Alcaraz won the first of his five Masters 1000 trophies in 2022. On this occasion he aspires to become the first Spaniard to win the American Masters 1000 in Indian Wells and Miami in the same year, a double known as ‘Sunshine Double ‘.

The 20-year-old prodigy from El Palmar will face the Frenchman Gaël Monfils (47th) or the Australian Jordan Thompson (34th) in the third round in the next stop of this tournament in which he is first classified due to the absence of Novak Djokovic.

Jannik Sinner, Second seed, he also performed at a good level in his first match after his defeat at the hands of Alcaraz in the Indian Wells semifinals, where he saw his streak of 19 consecutive victories broken.

The Italian, twice finalist in Miami (2021 and 2023), He beat his compatriot Andrea Vavassori 6-3 and 6-4 while the current champion, the Russian Daniil Medvedev, defeated the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 6-4 and 6-2.

For the South American delegation, the Chilean Nicholas Jarry He also made his successful debut, saving two match points against the British Jack Draper to win 7-6 (7/5), 4-6 and 7-6 (7/2).

His next rival will be the Brazilian Thiago Wild, world number 76, who gave one of the surprises of the tournament by defeating the local Taylor Fritz (13th) by a resounding 6-3 and 6-4.

Bleeding at the WTA

The women’s WTA 1000 suffered a bleeding of candidates when three members of the top-10 said goodbye: the Latvian Jelena Ostapenko (10th), the Tunisian Ons Jabeur (6th) and the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (2nd).

The Australian Open champion fell to the Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina, number 36 in the ranking, by sets of 6-4, 1-6 and 6-1 in their second meeting in Miami, where she maintained her participation after the death on Monday of her ex-boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov.

Miami police attributed the death of this 42-year-old former ice hockey player to an “apparent suicide” after jumping from the balcony of a hotel room in the city of Florida.

Sabalenka, who once again dressed in a dark outfit, smashed his racket several times against the floor of the court in anger when his defeat was confirmed after two hours of play.

The Polish Iga Swiatek, leader of the world ranking, and the Kazakh Elena Rybakina, fourth, emerged victorious from the day.

Results

Men-Second round

• Gael Monfils (France) defeated Jordan Thompson (Australia) 6-7 (3/7), 6-1, 6-2
• Sebastian Korda (USA) defeats Roberto Bautista (Spain) 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 6-4
• Christopher Eubanks (USA) defeats Daniel Evans (Great Britain) 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 7-6 (9/7)
• Francisco Cerundolo (Argentina) beats Sebastian Ofner (Austria) 7-6 (7/2), 6-7 (2/7), 6-1
• Karen Khachanov (Russia) defeats Laslo Djere (Serbia) 6-2, 6-4
• Casper Ruud (Norway) beats Luca Van Assche (France) 7-6 (7/5), 1-6, 6-1
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (Spain) defeats Juncheng Shang (China) 6-3, 7-5
• Nicolas Jarry (China) defeats Jack Draper (Great Britain) 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 7-6 (7/2)
• Thiago Wild (Brazil) beats Taylor Fritz (USA) 6-3, 6-4
• Dominik Koepfer (Germany) defeats Sebastián Báez (Argentina) 6-3, 6-2
• Cameron Norrie (Great Britain) defeats Flavio Cobolli (Italy) 7-5, 6-7 (4/7), 6-2
• Daniil Medvedev (Russia) beats Márton Fucsovics (Hungary) 6-4, 6-2
• Andy Murray (Great Britain) defeats Tomás Etcheverry (Argentina) 7-6 (7/0), 6-3
• Matteo Arnaldi (Italy) defeats Alexander Bublik (Kazakhstan) 6-4, 6-1
• Denis Shapovalov (Canada) defeats Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece) 6-2, 6-4
• Martin Damm Jr. (USA) to Tommy Paul (USA) 4-6, 2-1 and abandonment
• Christopher O’Connell (Australia) defeats Frances Tiafoe (USA) 7-5, 7-6 (7/5)
• Tallon Griekspoor (Netherlands) defeats Alex Michelsen (USA) 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (7/9), 6-4
• Jannik Sinner (Italy) defeats Andrea Vavassori (Italy) 6-3, 6-4

Women (WTA 1000)-Second round

• Iga Swiatek (Poland) defeated Camila Giorgi (Italy) 6-1, 6-1
• Linda Nosková (Czech Rep.) defeats Maria Timofeeva (Russia) 6-4, 6-4
• Jasmine Paolini (Italy) beats Katie Volynets (USA) 7-6 (10/8), 7-5
• Leylah Fernandez (Canada) beats Emiliana Arango (Colombia) 6-4, 6-2
• Jessica Pegula (USA) beat Lin Zhu (China) 6-4, 4-1 and abandonment
• Caroline Garcia (France) defeats Viktoriya Tomova (Bulgaria) 6-1, 5-2 and abandonment
• Naomi Osaka (Japan) defeats Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) 6-2, 7-6 (7/5)
• Daria Kasatkina (Russia) beats Claire Liu (USA) 6-0, 1-0 and abandonment
• Sorana Cirstea (Romania) defeats Sloane Stephens (USA) 6-2, 6-1
• Danielle Collins (USA) defeats Anastasia Potapova (Russia) 6-2, 6-2
• Elina Avanesyan (Russia) defeats Ons Jabeur (Tunisia) 6-1, 4-6, 6-3

Third round

• Maria Sakkari (Greece) defeated Dayana Yastremska (Ukraine) 7-5, 6-4
• Anna Kalinskaya (Russia) defeats Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) 6-3, 6-1
• Madison Keys (USA) to Xinyu Wang (China) 6-4, 7-6 (7/5)
• Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) defeats Taylor Townsend (USA) 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 6-4
• Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) defeats Qinwen Zheng (China) 6-4, 7-5
• Katie Boulter (Great Britain) defeats Beatriz Haddad Maia (Brazil) 6-2, 6-3
• Yulia Putintseva (Kazakhstan) beats Greet Minnen (Belgium) 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
• Anhelina Kalinina (Ukraine) defeats Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) 6-4, 1-6, 6-1