Andreescu and Sabalenka move into 4th round at Miami Open

MIAMI: Bianca Andreescu of Canada - the 2019 US Open champion - beat 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin of the United States 6-4, 6-4 in the third round of the Miami Open on Sunday.

Andreescu advanced to the tournament’s fourth round for the third time. She had seven aces to Kenin’s one, and double-faulted only once as she won the third straight matchup between the Grand Slam champions. Andreescu converted all three of her break opportunities.

In other matches, Australian Open winner and world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus defeated Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-2; and Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic outlasted American Madison Keys 7-6 (4), 6-3.

Also, Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia defeated world No. 9 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, the gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, 7-6 (8), 6-3; Marketa Vondrousova ousted Karolina Pliskova 6-1, 6-2 in an all-czech matchup; Sorana Cirstea of Romania beat Karolína Muchová of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-1; and Varvara Gracheva of Russia defeated Magdalena Frech of Poland 6-1, 6-2.

World number one Carlos Alcaraz moved into the last 16 of the Miami Open ater beating Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic 6-0, 7-6 (7/5) on Sunday as he remains on track for tennis’ “Sunshine Double.”

The 19-year-old Spaniard, who beat Daniil Medvedev to win the title in Indian Wells last week, looked in top condition as he outclassed Lajovic in the first set to keep his Miami title defence on track.

But the Serb was able to provide some tension towards the end of the second set, breaking to make it 5-5 with Alcaraz paying the price for a sloppy return. Alcaraz was 6-2 up in the tie-break, but Lajovic won the next three points before the Spaniard’s big back-hand winner setled the 91-minute contest.

Alcaraz will face Tommy Paul in the last 16 and the American goes into that game on the back of a 12-match winning streak against Spanish players including wins over Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal last year.

With Nadal injured and Novak Djokovic barred from entering the US due to his refusal to take a COVID vaccine, Alcaraz is the face of this tournament and the crowd was noticeably bigger on the Hard Rock Stadium court for his game. In the front row of the crowd was Miami Heat NBA star Jimmy Butler who embraced Alcaraz ater the match.

Alcaraz said that dealing with his magnified profile is something he has yet to get fully used to.

American Taylor Fritz rolled into the fourth round for the third consecutive year ater clinching a 6-4, 6-4 win against Canada’s Denis Shapovalov.

In a hard-hiting encounter, with both players blasting from the baseline, Fritz did not face a break point during the 81-minute encounter.

Fritz has already won one tournament in Florida this year, taking the title last month at Delray Beach and in the fourth round, the American will be up against 19-year-old Holger Rune in who beat Argentine Daniel Schwartzman 6-4, 6-2.

As always at Miami, there is a large contingent of Argentine tennis fans and they were vocal in their support for Schwartzman.

But Dane Rune converted all four break points he earned in the hot aternoon sun.

Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp triumphed for the third time in four meetings with Norway’s world number four Casper Ruud, emerging with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory.

The tight encounter, with a 75 minute third set, turned decisively towards Van de Zandschulp when he held to go 5-4 up with Ruud going wide at the end of a long rally. The Dutchman sealed victory, when on match point, Ruud’s sot volley found the net.

Italian Jannik Sinner continued his strong start to the year, defeating Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-4.