Tsitsipas tops Garin in 3 sets in first action at Miami Open
Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece returns to Cristian Garin of Chile during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Monday, March 27, 2023, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -
Third-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Chilean qualifier Cristian Garin 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 at the Miami Open on Monday, the Greek's first on-court action after a bye and walkover in the opening rounds.
Tsitsipas had 12 aces in his first victory since an opening-round win in Rotterdam over Emil Ruusuvuori in mid-February. He ran his record to 3-0 against Garin, who was attempting to become the first Chilean player to reach the fourth round in Miami since Fernando Gonzalez in 2010.
After losing the first set, Garin won eight straight points late in the second to force a decisive third. Tsitsipas had a critical break at 4-all in the final set and advanced.
Tsitsipas, who withdrew from Acapulco due to a shoulder injury and lost in the opening round in Indian Wells, overcame 21 unforced errors in his first match of the tournament.
“I was waiting for a very long time to get out and play,” Tsitsipas said, according to the ATP Tour website. “It has almost felt like a vacation this past week, staying in Miami. I glad I got started. It was a difficult match against an opponent who has played good tennis against good opponents in the past.
“I am happy with the way things turned around and my confidence towards the end. I had an eye-on-the-prize attitude and it was effective with how I played in the last game when he was serving.”
Tsitsipas will take on Karen Khachanov, who eased past Czech Jiri Lehecka 6-2, 6-4, in a round-of-16 match on Tuesday.
In other action, Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina surprised sixth-ranked and fifth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada 6-2, 7-5. Cerundolo, a semifinalist in Miami last year, has faced Auger-Aliassime in third-round matches of every ATP Masters 1000 or Grand Slam event this year - all won by the Canadian.
Cerundolo said he fed off the energy of the crowd.
“Super happy to get another top-10 win, another important win for me,” he said. “I think I played really good from beginning to end. Super nice to play here. A lot of Argentinian, Latin people. .. Last year was amazing. So I'm really excited to be in the round of 16 again and try to keep winning.”
Cerundolo advanced to face the winner of the night match between No. 12 seed Frances Tiafoe and Lorenzo Sonego.
Also Monday, Quentin Halys of France eliminated American Mackenzie McDonald 7-6 (7), 6-3. Halys will face fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev, who advanced in a walkover. Adrian Mannarino of France beat Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 7-6 (7), 7-6 (7).
In another late match, American Christopher Eubanks was scheduled to face Frenchman Gregoire Barrere.
In women's action, American Jessica Pegula, the No. 3 seed, dispatched Poland's Magda Linette 6-1, 7-5. She advanced to face 27th-seeded Anastasia Potapova, a 6-4, 7-6 (7) winner over Qinwen Zheng, in Tuesday's quarterfinals.
The 29-year-old Pegula raced to a five-game lead in the opening set against Linette and then found herself tied at 5-all in the second set before closing out the win.
“I think after 5-2, I don't know what I was doing,” she said. “It was, like ... The changeover before that I switched racquets because I thought maybe the ball was flying on me a little bit. It didn't feel very good. Switched back to the old racquet and I won the next five games.
“I don't know why that happened, but sometimes it does. I was mad at myself that I switched racquets in the first place because it was only one break. But we got through that little mental battle I had with myself, and I was able to play very well.”
In a fourth-round matches, 10th-seeded Elena Rybakina, the reigning Wimbledon champion who won the title at Indian Wells last weekend, fired off 10 aces and made short work of Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-4, 6-3. Rybakina will face Martina Trevisan of Italy in the quarterfinals.
Trevisan eliminated Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-3.
Also, Petra Kvitova beat Varvara Gracheva 7-5, 7-6 (7), and Sorana Cirstea topped Marketa Vondrousova 7-6 (7), 6-4.
Later Monday, World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus takes on Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic. Also, 2019 U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu of Canada faces 18th-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova.
