Iga Swiatek’s hopes of winning the ‘Sunshine Double’ (Indian Wells and Miami Open) ended in a 6-4 6-2 fourth round loss to Ekaterina Alexandrova on Monday. Swiatek had already taken the first half of the Sunshine Double at Indian Wells earlier this month. Unfortunately she couldn’t keep her form as she was completely outplayed by the Russian world number 16.
Alexandrova went the whole match without a break in her serve. Her groundstrokes were too good for Swaitek on the day, resulting in a rather easy victory in the end.
Alexandrova, who is seeded 14th in the tournament, will go up against fifth seed Jessica Pegula next in the quarter finals. Pegula was able to overcome fellow American Emma Navarro 7-6(1) 6-3 in her round of 16 matchup.
Swaitek joined third seed Coco Gauff in making an early exit from the Miami Open. She lost to Caroline Garcia in a three-set battle which saw both players pushed to the brink.
In the first set, the French Garcia was able to break rather easily and didn’t give up a single breakpoint, winning 6-3. Gauff was able to strike back in the second set however, using her powerful serve to dominate 6-1.
In the first game of the deciding set, Garcia was able to fend off a total of four break points to hold serve. She then capitalized on the momentum to break at love to take a 2-0 lead. From there she stayed calm and served out her opponent, winning the final set 6-2.
Garcia will be up against another American in her quarter finals in Danielle Collins, who beat Sorana Cirstea 6-3 6-2.
Fourth seed Elena Rybakina topped Madison Keys 6-3 7-5 to meet Maria Sakkari in the quarters. The Greek eighth seed got a walkover into the quarter-finals which will give her some much needed rest.
Sakkari was scheduled to play Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya but she withdrew ahead of their fourth-round match due to health issues. Kalinskaya came into the month with health problems, which got worse following a third round defeat at Indian Wells.
Rybakina has a 2-1 record in head-to-head meetings with Sakkari, but Sakkari has been in top gear as of late, making the final at Indian Wells.
Alcaraz Goes Through to Round of 16
In the men’s singles draw, top seed Carlos Alcaraz dominated Gael Monfils 6-2 6-4 to advance to the Round of 16. Alcaraz already won Indian Wells a few weeks ago and is looking to take down the Sunshine Double. The 20-year-old cruised to victory in his match-up and never really looked in trouble.
Monfils was able to mount a small comeback when Alcaraz served for the match leading 5-2. He was able to break to 5-3 to extend the match but the comeback would prove short-lived. Alacaraz came back with his serve and volley technique to seal the win at love on his next serve.
Next up for Alcaraz, the winner of the Miami Open back in 20223, is Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti. Musetti beat American Ben Shelton 6-4 7-6(5) in his fourth round matchup.
Fourth seed Alexander Zverev also escaped a testing match with Christopher Eubanks 7-6(4) 6-3 to reach the last 16. Zverev was able to limit his unforced errors and converted a couple of break points to push ahead in the last set. He was also good on defense, saving four of the five break points in the one hour and 44-minute contest.
Eubanks had a golden opportunity to serve out the first set at 5-3 but couldn’t put Zverev away. He broke the American and then was able to convert in a tie-breaker to go up a set.
Zverev has 15th seed Khachanov in the Round of 16 who beat Argentine Francisco Cerundolo 6-1 5-7 7-6(5). Zverev is ahead in their head-to-head matchup, 3-2, and has won their most recent meeting in the gold medal match at the Tokyo Olympics.
Other players in the men’s bracket to advance include Hungarian Fabian Marozsan, Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, and Australia’s Alex de Minaur.
Read Also:
