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

Associated PressMar 28, 2023, 4:31 PM EDT

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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.

Alcaraz, Sabalenka advance to 4th round of Miami Open

Associated PressMar 27, 2023, 12:13 PM EDT

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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz of Spain beat Dusan Lajovic of Serbia 6-0, 7-6 (5) and will face American Tommy Paul.

World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus cruised past Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-2 on Sunday.

“I lost the first and only match that I played against Tommy” Alcaraz said. “I know that he’s a really talented and really tough player, so I have to play at my best. Let’s see what’s going to happen on Tuesday.

Paul and fellow American No. 10 Taylor Fritz advanced in straight sets.

Bianca Andreescu of Canada – the 2019 U.S. Open champion – beat 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin of the United States 6-4, 6-4.

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, 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.

On the men’s side, Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands outlasted world No. 4 Casper Ruud of Norway 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Van de Zandschulp had 12 aces to Ruud’s six, but they each had three double-faults. Van de Zandschulp will face Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland in the next round.

Paul beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain 6-3, 7-5, helped by eight aces. Fokina had six double-faults.

Fritz defeated Denis Shapovalov of Canada 6-4, 6-4. Shapovalov had seven double-faults. Fritz will face world No. 8 Holger Rune of Denmark, who defeated Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-4, 6-2.

“It’s going to be a tough match I think for a round of 16,” Fritz said. “Myself playing Holger is a very tough draw. I’m excited to play him. We’ve never played before. I’m not entirely I guess sure what to make of his game. Obviously, he’s very good.”

Also, Andrey Rublev of Russia dispatched Miomir Kecmanović of Serbia 6-1, 6-2.

Iga Swiatek out of Miami Open with rib injury

Associated PressMar 22, 2023, 12:29 PM EDT

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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Defending champion Iga Swiatek withdrew from the Miami Open because of a rib injury that she is hoping will heal during a break from competition.

The No. 1-ranked Swiatek, a 21-year-old from Poland, also will sit out her country’s Billie Jean King Cup qualifier matches against Kazakhstan on April 13-14.

“I wanted to wait ’til the last minute” to decide whether to play in Miami,” Swiatek said at a news conference at the site of the hard-court tournament. “We were kind of checking if this is the kind of injury you can still play with or this is kind when you can get things worse. So I think the smart move for me is to pull out of this tournament because I want to rest and take care of it properly.”

She was supposed to face Claire Liu in the second round.

As a seeded player, three-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek received a first-round bye at an event she won a year ago during a 37-match unbeaten run that was the longest in women’s tennis in a quarter of a century.

“I was also aware at the beginning of the season that it’s going to be hard for me to defend all these (ranking) points,” she said, “because … these streaks, winning all these tournaments – looking logically and statistically, it’s not like it’s going to happen every year.”

Swiatek said after a 6-2, 6-2 loss to eventual champion Elena Rybakina in the BNP Paribas Open semifinals that her rib was bothering her. She explained in Miami that the problem first surfaced late in her quarterfinal victory against Sorana Cirstea a day earlier in California.

“Basically, it’s not like it happened in one minute or one second. It’s not, like, a serious thing, because we caught it … pretty early. So I felt like it was a process,” Swiatek said. “At first with these minor things, your body doesn’t feel anything.”

She said the issue was a problem “in certain movements,” including a “little bit when I served,” but Swiatek also said she’s not too worried about how long she will be sidelined.

The next Grand Slam tournament is the French Open, which Swiatek won last year for the second time. Play begins in Paris on May 28.

Instead of playing Swiatek, Liu will go up against 94th-ranked Julia Grabher, who lost in qualifying but now gets to move into the draw.

Liu advanced when her first-round opponent, Katerina Siniakova, stopped playing in the second set because of a hurt wrist. Siniakova also pulled out of the doubles event with Barbora Krejcikova; the Czech duo has won the past four Grand Slam tournaments they’ve entered together, and seven major doubles titles overall.