Isner beats del Potro 6-1, 7-6 (2) in Miami Open semifinal

Associated PressMar 30, 2018, 3:54 PM EDT

AP Images

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) Towering John Isner moved one big step closer to the most prestigious title of his 14-year career.

Dominating with his serve and aggressive baseline strokes, the 6-foot-10 Isner beat a weary Juan Martin del Potro 6-1, 7-6 (2) in Friday’s semifinals at the Miami Open.

Isner ended a 15-match winning streak for del Potro, who won Indian Wells two weeks ago by beating Roger Federer in the final. The toll of so many matches showed, and Isner was the better player from start to finish.

He raced to a 3-0 lead, finished with 13 aces, never faced a deuce point on his serve and was at his best when closing out the victory.

Isner smacked consecutive aces to reach 6-all, and made all four first serves in the tiebreaker, including aces of 138 and 139 mph. He also hit two drop volleys for winners in the tiebreaker, with the second coming on match point.

Del Potro, seeded No. 5, was the fan favorite thanks to South Florida’s large Latin population, and a flag-waving, ole-singing, near-capacity crowd tried to inspire a rally from the Argentine after he quickly fell behind. But Isner held his own even in the occasional extended rally, and he repeatedly quieted the crowd with his big serves.

Seeded No. 14, Isner is 0-3 in ATP Masters 1000 finals. His opponent Sunday will be the winner of the other semifinal between No. 4-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany and No. 16 Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain.

Isner is seeking to become the first American to win the Key Biscayne title since Andy Roddick in 2010.

American Sloane Stephens, the No. 13 seed and the reigning U.S. Open champion, will play No. 6 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia on Saturday for the final women’s title on Key Biscayne. The tournament will move 18 miles north next year to the Miami Dolphins’ stadium.

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Elena Rybakina hits 10 aces in Miami for 12th straight win

Associated PressMar 28, 2023, 9:50 PM EDT

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina extended her winning streak to 12 matches by delivering 10 aces – her fourth consecutive outing with at least that many – in a 6-3, 6-0 victory over 25th-seeded Martina Trevisan in the Miami Open quarterfinals.

Rybakina has 46 aces through four matches at the hard-court tournament in Florida and a WTA-leading 201 this season.

The 23-year-old, who represents Kazakhstan, improved to 20-4 in 2023, including a run to the Australian Open final in January and a title at Indian Wells, California, last week.

She is trying to become only the fifth player to win the women’s trophies at Indian Wells and Miami in the same season. Top-ranked Iga Swiatek did it a year ago; she withdrew from Miami this time because of a rib injury.

“Of course it would be amazing to achieve something like that,” the 10th-seeded Rybakina said about the prospect of completing what’s known as the Sunshine Double, “but it’s still far away.”

So far in Rybakina’s career, 13 of her 18 semifinal appearances have come on hard courts. She will face No. 3 Jessica Pegula for a berth in the final after the American fought off two match points and outlasted No. 27 Anastasia Potapova 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2) in a match that ended just before 1:30 a.m. after play had been delayed by rain.

“I haven’t been that physically tired in just a really long time,” Pegula said. “Just the humidity was taking so much out of me, and I haven’t been able to play in humidity like that in a while. It was just really tough, so really, it was just pure will.”

Trevisan reached the French Open semifinals in 2022.

In fourth-round men’s action Tuesday, No. 2 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was beaten 7-6 (4), 6-4 by No. 14 Karen Khachanov, while defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz and Jannik Sinner all beat seeded opponents in straight sets.

Alcaraz, who returned to No. 1 in the ATP rankings last week, got past Australian Open semifinalist Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-4 to set up a meeting against Fritz, the top-ranked American man and seeded ninth in Miami.

Fritz compiled twice as many winners, 22, as unforced errors, 11, and only dropped serve once during a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 7 Holger Rune. That put Fritz into his first quarterfinal in seven appearances in Miami – and his first matchup against Alcaraz, a 19-year-old from Spain who won the U.S. Open in September for his first Grand Slam title.

“I’m really excited for it,” Fritz said. “I think that a lot of people are really excited for that, too.”

No. 10 Sinner eliminated No. 6 Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-4 and has yet to drop a set in the tournament.

Sinner’s next opponent will be unseeded Emil Ruusuvuori, a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 winner against No. 26 Botic van de Zandschulp.

No. 4 Daniil Medvedev, forced to start late and off his scheduled court after the rain, beat Quentin Halys 6-4, 6-2. He will face American Christopher Eubanks, who edged Adrian Mannarino in a pair of tiebreakers.

Khachanov will play Francisco Cerundolo, a semifinalist in Miami last year, in the other men’s quarterfinal.

Fritz, Sinner reach Miami Open quarterfinals with 2-set wins

Associated PressMar 28, 2023, 4:31 PM EDT

Getty Images

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Taylor Fritz and Jannik Sinner beat seeded opponents in straight sets at the Miami Open to move into the quarterfinals.

No. 9 Fritz compiled twice as many winners, 22, as unforced errors, 11, and only dropped serve once during a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 7 Holger Rune.

That put Fritz, the highest-ranked American man, into his first quarterfinal in seven appearances at the hard-court tournament.

He will face either No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz or Australian Open semifinalist Tommy Paul next. Alcaraz is the defending champion in Miami.

No. 10 Sinner eliminated No. 6 Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-4 and has yet to drop a set in the tournament.

Sinner’s next opponent will be No. 26 Botic van de Zandschulp or unseeded Emil Ruusuvuori.