Miami open: Alcaraz canters into quarters

miami, March 27

Indian Wells champion Carlos Alcaraz kept his hopes for a Sunshine Double alive with a 6-3 6-3 win over Lorenzo Musetti to reach the Miami Open quarterfinals for the third straight year on Tuesday. The Spaniard needed less than 90 minutes to dispatch the 23rd seed from Italy, pounding forehands and winning 18 of 22 points when he charged to the net.

“Without a doubt, this is the best I’ve been feeling,” Alcaraz, who had struggled with an ankle injury earlier in the season, said after winning his ninth consecutive match.

Alcaraz will next face 11th seed Grigor Dimitrov after the Bulgarian’s career renaissance continued with a gritty 3-6 6-3 7-6(3) win over Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz.

Daniil Medvedev took another step towards retaining a title for the first time in his career as the Russian third seed beat Germany’s Dominik Koepfer 7-6(5) 6-0 to make the quarterfinals.

Rybakina survives

Elena Rybakina survived a gruelling quarterfinal against Maria Sakkari as the former Wimbledon champ advanced to the last-four for a second straight year with a 7-5 6-7(4) 6-4 victory. Rybakina, who will meet Victoria Azarenka for a place in the final, needed nearly three hours to beat Sakkari. Former world No. 1 Azarenka contended with a near hour-long stoppage in the first set because of a power outage to the electronic line-calling system before beating Yulia Putintseva 7-6(4) 1-6 6-3 earlier in the day. — Reuters

Bopanna in semis

Rohan Bopanna and Australia’s Matthew Ebden advanced to their third men’s doubles semifinals this year, defeating Sem Verbeek and John-Patrick Smith 3-6 7-6 (4) 10-7 in a gruelling quarterfinal.