In a meeting of two veterans in Miami Masters Qualifying, it was Benjamin Becker who emerged from his final round match with Mikhail Youzhny. Becker survived a harsh first set to eventually win 1-6, 6-3, 6-2. It was his second close win in the week, after he had defeated Joao Souza in the first round also in three sets.
In other matches, qualifying wildcard Christian Harrison fully justified his selection by defeating fourth seed Rogerio Dutra Silva 7-5, 6-2. It goes with the excellent win that Harrison earned against Peter Polansky to make the main draw, where he will feature alongside his brother Ryan.
Harrison will be joined by at least two other Americans, as thirteenth seed Ernesto Escobedo defeated seventh seed Renzo Olivo 7-5, 6-3. Jared Donaldson also won an all-American clash with Stefan Kozlov, with the older man prevailing 7-5, 6-3.
There was one disappointing result for the home nation as Reilly Opelka was forced to withdraw from his match with Darian King with an injury. King moves into the main draw as a result.
Dusan Lajovic ignored a seeding difference of five places to upset Nicolas Kicker 6-4, 6-3. Lukas Lacko, facing a second teenager in as many days, managed to defeat Henri Laaksonen’s conqueror Miomar Kecmanovic 6-3, 6-2. Lacko had endured a close three-set encounter with American wildcard Vasil Kirkov in the first round.
Sixth seed Radu Albot managed to overcome the loss of the first set to knock out the out-of-form Sergiy Stakhovsky 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Stakhovsky had managed to beat Ernests Gulbis in the first round, but his search for form continues.
Matches yet to be completed include Frances Tiafoe’s meeting with Mathias Bourgue, and Ruben Bemelmans match with Tim Smyczek.
With the main draw now known, qualifiers could face a variety of opponents in the first round. These include Bernard Tomic, Andreas Seppi, Dudi Sela, Gudio Pella, Kyle Edmund, Jan-Lennard Struff, Dan Evans, Kevin Anderson, and one section will see one qualifier take on another.
