Tennis: Sinner downs Alcaraz to set up Miami final with Medvedev

MIAMI GARDENS -- Italy's Jannik Sinner ended Carlos Alcaraz's hopes of the "Sunshine Double" and his reign as world number one, triumphing 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-2 in their Miami Open semi-final on Friday.

Sinner will meet Russian Daniil Medvedev in Sunday's final while Alcaraz will lose his number one ranking to Novak Djokovic.

Medvedev reached his fifth straight ATP Tour final with a 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 6-3 win over fellow Russian Karen Khachanov.

The disappointment for the 19-year-old Alcaraz, the defending champion in Miami and coming off a title at Indian Wells, will be tinged with frustration after he struggled in the third set with leg cramps.

It had been an enthralling and entertaining power-hitting performance from both men in the first set, won by the Spaniard after a tie-break, but an inspired Sinner fought back in the second.

Sinner broke in the first game and although Alcaraz broke back to make it 2-2, the 21-year-old Italian sensed his moment was arriving and showed confidence in his powerful groundstrokes.

Sinner broke again to go 5-4 up and then held for the set to end Alcaraz's streak of 21 winning sets.

The world number one was moving with difficulty and was broken on his first serve in the deciding set. Looking in discomfort, he crouched down on his baseline in between points and shot some worried and confused looks to his team in the stands.

Sinner lost his focus for a while, his blistering shots replaced by some conservative strokes but he soon regained focus as he ran out the winner in three hours.

- Boyhood friend -

The 27-year-old Medvedev, playing against his boyhood friend, survived a second-set comeback but his trademark precision stroke play saw him through against the big-serving Khachanov in a high quality encounter.

The contest saw a series of long rallies as Medvedev fended off Khachanov's thumping shots from the baseline and then pinned his opponent back on his service game.

Medvedev hit 13 aces and saved four of six break points as the match turned decisively in his favor when he broke Khachanov in the fourth game of the third set.

Medvedev won 82% (14 of 17) of his first-serve points in the final set and was relieved to have beaten a player who knows his game so well.

"In my opinion, it was a top match," Medvedev said. "In the first set when we lost our serves, it was just a good game from the returner.

"In the second set, I had one bad game and he won the set. I had one break point, I could have done better. He had a break point in the first game of the third set, I managed to play well. He had one bad game in the third set, I managed to take it and I am really happy to be through. It was a very tough match."

While aware that a very tough test awaits in the final, the Russian said he was capable of beating any player on the tour.

"I have to believe in myself. I know I am capable of winning big titles. I know I can play well and beat anybody," Medvedev said.

"Carlos is on fire right now but you can't win 100 matches in a row. At one moment someone is going to put the water on the fire. It might be Sinner today, it might be me on Sunday, it might be someone else next tournament."

Khachanov said he had played at his best and felt he was a little unfortunate to end up on the losing side.

"To be honest with you, I think it was really one of the greatest matches, I felt from the beginning 'til the end in terms of level, in terms of speed, intensity, attitude, everything," he said.

Agence France-Presse

Tennis: Rybakina marches on in Miami, Pegula progresses

MIAMI GARDENS -- Elena Rybakina extended her winning streak to 11 matches as she booked her place in the Miami Open quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Belgium's Elise Mertens on Monday.

Rybakina is looking to complete the "Sunshine Double" after her triumph in Indian Wells but she was far from euphoric after her victory.

"Physically I'm not the freshest, but I'm happy that I'm managing and finding my way. To be in a quarter-final is great and hopefully I'm going to play better," she said.

The Kazakh allowed Mertens to break in the sixth game of the first set but then two double faults from the Belgian allowed Rybakina to swiftly break back and then she struck again to take the opening set.

The Wimbledon champion broke early in the second set and never looked back and she will now face Italian Martina Trevisan in the quarters.

Trevisan beat former French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-3.

"It's a tricky one, she's lefty so I need to adjust and it's going to be a tough match since we never played each other. I'll try to recover and be more fresh physically," Rybakina said.

All 16 survivors in the tournament were in action on "Manic Monday" at Hard Rock Stadium where the quarter-final line-up will be set.

American Jessica Pegula looked comfortable and in command of her game as she beat Poland's Magda Linette 6-1, 7-5.

World number three Pegula got off to a flying start - she struck seven winners in the opening nine minutes and won the first three games. With only 19 minutes on the clock she was 5-0 up.

The second set was a different story though with Linette grabbing a 5-2 lead. However, she twice let set point slip on her serve and Pegula went on to win the final five games to secure victory.

Pegula had lamented her slow starts at Indian Wells but said her rapid-fire opening to matches in Miami had not been part of any strategy.

"It wasn't something I was really thinking about. I think it just has been happening that way, which is nice," she said.

"It was kind of a weird match. I had strings of games where I was playing really well, then (went) a little bit off. For the most part I was able string together good games, so that's always a good sign," she said.

The American will face Anastasia Potapova after the Russian beat China's Zheng Qinwen 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) to continue her impressive run.

Romanian Sorana Cirstea followed up her quarter-final at Indian Wells by securing another last eight appearance thanks to a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, win over Czech Marketa Vondrousova.

Agence France-Presse

Tennis: Medvedev advances in Miami as Murray downed

MIAMI -- Daniil Medvedev is thriving on the pressure of being the man to beat after dispatching Andy Murray in straight sets at the Miami Open on Saturday to edge closer to regaining his world number one ranking.

The Russian top seed served superbly against the 34-year-old three-time Grand Slam champion to ease to a straightforward 6-4, 6-2 triumph at Hard Rock Stadium and will face Spain's Pedro Martinez next.

Medvedev lost his No.1 ranking after just 18 days having failed to go deep in Indian Wells but will regain it once again from the absent Novak Djokovic if he reaches the semi-finals in Florida.

With Djokovic and Rafael Nadal both missing, the 26-year-old is the favorite to claim his first Miami Open title and his performance against Murray showed he's in the kind of form which will cause the rest of the field a multitude of problems.

"For sure, guys going against you are going to have more motivation if you are the top seed," Medvedev told AFP.

"It could be the biggest win of their season but I like to be in this position. The more pressure you have, the more you expect from yourself. 

"At the beginning of my career, I would be really happy when I was in the third round for the first time but now I want to achieve more. So yeah, there's definitely more pressure but also more motivation to continue doing well."

Medvedev was delighted to briefly reach the pinnacle of men's tennis but the Russian is determined to ensure his next spell at the top won't be as short.

"It felt good to touch it," smiled Medvedev. "Reaching No.1 is something that nobody can take away from me even if it was for two weeks. 

“But when I did lose it, I just headed back to the practice court and knew I had to get to the semis in Miami to get it back again.

"I have a lot of motivation to stay at No.1 for a long time."

- Murray eyes Wimbledon -

While Medvedev is at the top of his game, Murray is still searching for answers. 

The Scot, playing with a metal hip after two operations to fix the problem which almost forced him to retire, has reintroduced Czech legend Ivan Lendl into his coaching team for a third time and hopes he can arrest a run which has seen him fail to back up first round wins at his last six tournaments.

"My level of tennis wasn't good enough to win matches like that but Ivan will bring clarity over the right way to play," said Murray, who will spend time working with Lendl in Florida before skipping the clay court swing of the ATP tour to ensure he's prepared for Wimbledon later this summer.

"I don't think I have been practicing the right things for 18 months or so, it's difficult to sort of undo that space.

"That's one of the reasons why I'm taking a big period of training to change some of those things and hopefully get my game to a place where it's more competitive against the top players again. 

"I do feel like I played better here than I did in the previous tournament in Indian Wells but it's going to take a lot of work."

Agence France-Presse

Djokovic defeats Dolgopolov in Miami; Venus Williams loses

KEY BISCAYNE, Florida—Before the first set ended Tuesday, Novak Djokovic had busted a racket in anger, drawn jeers from the crowd and received two code violations, which cost him a point penalty.

There were no further outbursts, and as Djokovic’s play improved, so did his mood. He rallied from a break down in the second set and beat Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-0 in the fourth round of the Miami Open.

“The first set and a half, he was dominating from the baseline,” Djokovic said. “I was frustrated and nervous and wasn’t showing composure on the court.”

Dolgopolov led 4-1 in the second set before Djokovic mounted a comeback to remain in contention for his fifth Key Biscayne title. Dolgopolov required treatment from a trainer after the second set and lost 36 of the final 41 points.

Venus Williams’ recent resurgence stalled when she lost in the quarterfinals to No. 12-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro 0-6, 6-1, 7-5. The 34-year-old Williams was broken six times in the final two sets and double-faulted twice in the final game.

“Too many errors, and I was going for it the whole match,” Williams said. “Toward the end, I just never found the happy medium between being aggressive and putting the ball in the court.”

Williams is a three-time Key Biscayne champion, but her most recent title came in 2001. Her sister, seven-time champion Serena Williams, will play in the quarterfinals Wednesday against No. 27 Sabine Lisicki.

With Rafael Nadal already eliminated and Roger Federer skipping the tournament, the No. 1-seeded Djokovic’s most likely opponent in the final would be No. 3 Andy Murray, who became the ninth active man to win 500 matches by beating Kevin Anderson 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

The milestone made Murray’s victory especially sweet. Afterward he was presented with a cake large enough to feed many of the players he has beaten.


Murray will face unseeded Dominic Thiem in the quarterfinals, while Djokovic will play No. 6 David Ferrer.

No. 22 John Isner, the last American in the men’s draw, reached the Key Biscayne quarterfinals for the first time by outlasting No. 5 Milos Raonic in a serving duel, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5). Isner, who has yet to be broken in three matches, next faces No. 4 Kei Nishikori, who beat No. 18 David Goffin 6-1, 6-2. Nishikori has lost 10 games in his three matches.

Others advancing included unseeded Juan Monaco and No. 8 Tomas Berdych, who won when No. 17 Gael Monfils fell, hurt his right hip and retired in the second set.

In other women’s play, No. 9 Andrea Petkovic swept No. 14 Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 6-2.

Djokovic received a warning for ball abuse early in his match, and when he netted a forehand to fall behind 5-4, he slammed his racket against the concrete to earn a second code violation. The crowd hooted as he walked to his chair, and Djokovic raised both arms in response.

“That was a gesture of just feeling bad for what I have done,” Djokovic said. “I was fighting a battle inside of myself, I would say. That was the biggest battle that I fought today.”

Djokovic quickly regained his composure, but it took him awhile to find his range against Dolgopolov, who slices his groundstrokes as if hitting them with a sand wedge.

“He was playing well,” Djokovic said. “He has a very unorthodox game—tricky opponent, mixes up the pace, and can easily get you out of the rhythm.”

After the second set, a trainer bandaged the soles of Dolgopolov’s feet. He moved poorly after that and won only three of 27 points in the final set.

Murray’s round-number victory was more straightforward. He improved to 500-155, becoming the 46th man to reach the milestone during the Open Era, and the first from Britain.

“I don’t know why, but getting to 500 gives me motivation to go on and try and win more,” Murray said. “I hope I’ve still got a lot more wins in me.”

To beat the 6-foot-8 Anderson, Murray relied on lots of defense and just enough offense. He scrambled all over the court to keep points going, and in the final game made improbable saves to extend rallies on consecutive points, winning both.

When Murray broke for a 3-1 lead in the final set, he screamed “Come on!” loud enough to startle any sunbathers across the street on Crandon Beach. He easily held from there, winning 12 of 13 points in his final three service games.

Murray plays again Wednesday, while Djokovic is off until Thursday and glad to be. He has already played 38 matches this year, which may be why he has dropped a set in each of his first three rounds at Key Biscayne.

“I’ve played a lot of matches,” he said. “It’s taking a little bit of a toll mentally on me. I don’t feel that I’m very fresh on the court, even though I’m trying. The day off will definitely serve me and help me to recover mentally mostly, because physically I’m fine.”

source: sports.inquirer.net