Carlos Alcaraz overcame Tommy Paul 6-4 6-4 in an entertaining match in 1 hour and 36 minutes in the fourth round of the Miami Open to keep his hopes of winning the Sunshine Double alive. Alcaraz won 17 of his 18 matches this year. He lost just one match against Cameron Norrie in the final of the Rio Open last February.
Aicaraz is aiming to become the Sunshine Double after winning at Indian Wells earlier this month.
The Spaniard hit 22 winners compared to 9 from Paul and won 12 of his 13 points.
Both players held on serve in the first four games, before Alcaraz ran from the back of the court to get a ball back in play to break serve for 3-2. The player missed a chance for a double break. Paul earned a break point at 5-4 down, but Alcaraz held his serve to seal the opening set after 49 minutes.
Alcaraz earned the decisive break in the third game of the second set. Paul was not able to break back. The next games went on serve and Alcaraz sealed his spot in the quarter final
“I feel at home here. It’s easy to play for me in Miami with all the energy I receive from the crowd, it’s amazing. I enjoy it and I think and I think it’s key why I play at such a high level for every match. I am really happy with the level I am playing and hope to keep going. I played a really great match and hope to play the same level in the quarter finals. I moved well, defended very well and attacked as well. If I play the same level I am going to have a lot of chances to get through the quarter finals”,said Alcaraz.
Alcaraz set up a fourth round match against Taylor Fritz beat Hoger Rune 6-3 6-4 in 85 minutes to reach the quarter final at the Miami Open for the first time in his career.
Fritz had never gone beyond the fourth round in his six previous appearances in Miami. This year he has won three consecutive matches against Emilio Nava, Denis Shapovalov and Holger Rune.
Fritz converted his break point in the eighth game to win the opening set 6-3. The US player broke Rune in the opening game of the second set, where he made just three unforced errors and won 12 of his 15 first serve points.
Fritz has improved his win-loss record to 20-5 this season and won an ATP Tour title in Delray Beach. The US player dropped to 10th position in the ATP Ranking after his defeat against Jannik Sinner in the quarter finals in Indian Wells, where he was defending his last year’s titles.
““It helps when I can grab early breaks in the sets and just play solid tennis. Serve well and hold onto the breaks. That always makes a match a lot easier. I could not play aggressively in my first two matches because my opponents were hitting every ball as hard as they could. Rune still crushes the ball, but it was nice to feel I had some more time. The first two rounds, it was it was impossible to play my game, I just had to make balls. Today when I got the chance to be aggressive I just wanted to serve well and try not to give many free points. I think my average level of tennis is a lot higher. I don’t need to show up and play my best, that level is higher than it used to be. I feel I can come through and win a lot of matches”, said Fritz.
Karen Khachanov beat Stefanos Tsitsipas for the first time in his career with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-4.
Tsitsipas was not able to convert two break points and dropped his serve in the fifth game of the second set.
Khachanov will face either Lorenzo Sonego or Francisco Cerundolo. Emil Ruusuvuori came back from a set and a break down to beat Botic Van de Zandschulp 4-6 6-4 7-5. Ruusuvuori set up a quarter final against Jannik Sinner.
