Jannik Sinner beats Laslo Djere to beat reach the third round at the Miami Open - UBITENNIS
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Jannik Sinner beats Laslo Djere to beat reach the third round at the Miami Open

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Jannik Sinner made a winning start to his Miami Open with a 6-4 6-2 win over world number 58 Laslo Djere after 88 minutes on Court Butch Bucholz  to reach the third round at the Hard Rock Stadium. Sinner won his 17th match this season. 

 

Sinner won six consecutive games from 3-4 down to build up a 6-4 3-0 lead and the final three games from 3-2 to close out the second set. 

Sinner earned his first break point at deuce in the second game of the first set. Djere broke in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead, but Sinner pulled back on serve to draw level to 4-4. Sinner closed out the first set 6-4 with his second break in the 10thgame. 

Sinner converted his fourth break point in the second game to open up a 3-0 lead. Djere broke back in the fifth game for 2-3. Sinner earned two consecutive breaks in the sixth and eighth games to close out the second set 6-2. Sinner finished runner-up to Hubert Hurkacz in the Miami final in 2021 and reached the quarter final in last year’s edition

Sinner converted 5 of his 10 break points to improve his seasonal record against top 50 opponents to 13-0. 

Sinner and Djere are 2-2 split in their four head-to-head matches. Sinner won his previous meeting on hard court in Indian Wells 2022. 

Sinner set up a third round match against Grigor Dimitrov, who came back from one set down to beat Jan Lennard Struff 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4. 

Struff earned his first break in in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead and saved two break points in both the sixth and tenth games to win the first set 6-4. 

The second set went on serve en route to the tie-break. Dimitrov won four consecutive points from 3-5 down to clinch the tie-break 7-5. 

Dimitrov claimed the third set 6-4 with his only break in the fifth game. 

Carlos Alcaraz eased past Facundo Bagnis 6-0 6-2 in just 65 munues to continue his quest for the Sunshine Double after winning the Indian Wells title. 

Alcaraz is bidding to become the youngest player to win the Sunshine Double with his second consecutive title in Miami. 

Alcaraz will face either Maxime Cressy or Dusan Lajovic. 

“I knew that I needed to be focused for my first match. To start a new tournament is never easy. I have to be ready to get used to these new conditions, but I was really focused on the match from the beginning, and I am happy with the way that I played. I try to improve every day”, said Alcaraz. 

Andrey Rublev beat JJ Wolf 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 to reach the third round. Rublev dropped his serve in the first game, but he broke back in the 10th game to draw level to 5-5. 

Rublev earned an immediate mini-break to open up a 2-0 lead. Wolf pulled one break back to draw level to 2-2. Rublev won four consecutive points to build up a 6-2. Wolf saved the first set point, but Rublev closed out the tie-break with his fourth mini-break. 

Rublev saved all five break points he faced in the second set and earned his decisive break in the seventh game to clinch the second set 6-4 improving his win -loss record to 12-7 this season. 

Rublev set up a third round match against either Miomir Kecmanovic or Ugo Humbert. 

Rublev has won 12 ATP titles, including five ATP 500 trophies, but he is still chasing his first Masters 1000 title. 

“It’s a great feeling, because I did not know what to expect and it was my first match here. I did not much time to adapt. I know he is dangerous, that he can play really well and really aggressive. As soon as we started to play I was losing, so it was not easy. At the end I was happy that I able to keep calm inside, and I was just waiting for my moment in the first set. As soon as I had the moment I was able to make it, and then I started to play a play better and I started to feel more confident”, said Rublev. 

Taylor Fritz eased past Emilio Nava 6-4 6-1. Fritz reeled off six consecutive points from 4-4 in the first set to build up a 6-4 3-0 lead. Nava had beaten former Miami champion John Isner in the opening round to clinch his second ATP Tour win.

Nava earned an early break in the opening game. Fritz pulled back on serve in the second game. Fritz sealed the first set 6-4 with his second break in the 10th game. The US player broke twice in the second and fourth games to close out the second set 6-1. 

“Nava was basically going either clean winner or miss. It didn’t matter what shot I hit, so I felt like I just had to put as many balls in the court as possible and just hope that later on in the set, applying pressure at 5-4 up or if it were to go to 6-5, that he would not be able to just keep hitting winners”, said Fritz. 

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Iga Swiatek Appeared To Have An Easy Path To A Third French Title

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Iga Swiatek’s path to a third French Open title in four years looked so easy and accommodating.

 

There was a Brazilian left-hander few fans knew anything about and a Czech ranked 43rd in the world.

There wasn’t even power-hitting Aryna Sabalenka to worry about this time.

Surely, Swiatek could do a French waltz right past Beatriz Haddad Maia to the final and then take care of Karolina Muchova on Saturday.

TABLE WAS SET FOR IGA

The table was set for 22-year-old Iga Swiatek, the current No. 1 who couldn’t lose, or so it seemed.

But Haddad Maia turned out to be better than most observers expected in Thursday’s women’s semifinals. The Brazilian was 6-1 tall, and apparently capable of getting into Swiatek’s head.

The Polish Wonder couldn’t keep her eyes on the ball and still watch Haddad Maia’s move from a very wide stance to a narrow, moving, sometimes closer position even before Swiatek could make contact with her service toss.

HADDAD MAIA PROVIDES SERIOUS TEST

A double fault here and a double fault there, and Swiatek was in the middle of some serious opposition from Haddad Maia. Swiatek was even forced into a 16-point match tiebreaker before she could claim a 6-2, 7-6 (7) victory.

Most of the time, fans have grown to expect love games and few double faults from the usually near-flawless slender and speedy 5-9 Swiatek.

And now she could think about one more opponent. And Muchova already had taken care of Swiatek’s key rival for the world’s No. 1 ranking, the second-ranked Sabalenka, earlier in the day.

MUCHOVA MADE SABALENKA PAY A PRICE

Muchova made Sabalenka pay for her reckless play and over-hit forehands. Muchova, a slender  26-year-old, even won 20 of the last 24 points in a 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 7-5 upset of Sabalenka.

Of course, current Australian Open champion Sabalenka was hoping for a shot at a second straight Grand Slam title. From a break-point 5-2, match point opportunity in the third set, Sabalenka couldn’t find the court.

Once again, Swiatek will be going against an opponent who held a 1-0 edge in head-to-head matchups before the current French Open. Swiatek had lost one three-set match each against Haddad Maia and the 5-11 Muchova.

Don’t expect the gifted Swiatek to feel the pressure so much in the final against Muchova. The semifinal against Haddad Maia was just a little different. 

James Beck was the 2003 winner of the USTA National Media Award. A 1995 MBA graduate of The Citadel, he can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com. 

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Is Iga Swiatek On Her Way To Becoming A Roland Garros Legend?

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Rafa Nadal couldn’t have done it better.

 

There was Iga Swiatek dominating another top 10 opponent on the court Rafa loves so much, while her favourite player is still sidelined by hip surgery and expects his legendary career to come to a close next year.

Indeed, Swiatek may be on her way to becoming a legend herself on Court Philippe Chatrier at the French Open. The Polish Wonder already owns two titles at Roland Garros and is in line to possibly win two more matches there over the next three days for a third French title.

Of course, that’s a long way from the number of titles Nadal has won in the Paris Grand Slam. Fourteen titles sound like an out-of-reach dream for anyone to capture at the same Grand Slam, even the 22-year-old Swiatek.

SWIATEK ON HER GAME

The top-ranked Swiatek was on her game in Wednesday’s quarterfinals, starting strong and then winning nine of the last 12 games against young Coco Gauff in a 6-4, 6-2 win over last year’s runner-up.

Gauff played her usual aggressive game, but at times appeared to go for too much too often. She appeared to overpower Swiatek at times with her big serve, but only on first serves. Otherwise, the 19-year-old American didn’t seem to have her weapons under control much of the match.

IGA ALWAYS APPEARS TO BE READY

No one in the women’s game anticipates better than Swiatek. She always appears to be ready for the next shot.

Opponents can never count Iga out. And allowing her to get ahead in a match is almost like turning over the controls to Swiatek, who already owns three Grand Slam titles and has now advanced to the semifinals in four of her last six Grand Slams.

Swiatek jumped out to a 3-1 lead against the sixth-ranked Gauff, then dropped a pair of games before taking full charge of the match.

James Beck was the 2003 winner of the USTA National Media Award. A 1995 MBA graduate of The Citadel, he can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com. 

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Casper Ruud Topples Rune To Reach French Open Semis

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Casper Ruud came out on top in his all-Scandinavian clash with Holger Rune to seal his place in the semi-finals of the French Open. 

 

Ruud, who is seeded fourth in the draw, battled to a 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, win over his Danish opponent in what was a topsy-turvy encounter on the Philippe Chatrier Court. It is the second year in a row that the Norwegian has defeated Rune in the last eight of Roland Garros and he now leads their head-to-head 6-1. He is through to the last four of a major for only the third time in his career. 

“I’m very relieved. I came into this match trying to not play with pressure but it is not easy when you’re playing a big match against Holger who is never easy,” Rune said during his post-match interview. “He is very aggressive. Luckily for me the first two sets he wasn’t feeling it too well. He made a lot of errors and I got a lot of points for free.’
“That helped settle my nerves but he fought back in the third set. In the fourth set, I was lucky to keep that break.”

The highly anticipated nighttime clash began in one-way fashion with Ruud claiming 12 out of the first 15 games with relative ease as an erratic Rune struggled to find his game on the court, hitting a total of 40 unforced errors during the first two sets. 

It wasn’t until the third frame that Ruud finally faced some resistance on the court as his opponent orchestrated the crowd to get behind him. Prompting the 20-year-old to hit a series of impressive shots to revive his hopes.

However, Rune’s comeback was short-lived as Ruud broke once more midway through the fourth set as he moved to a game away from victory. He earned his first match point at 5-2 following a double fault from his rival but failed to convert. Two more opportunities then came and went for Ruud before he managed to serve the match out in the following game.

“I think I did well,” he replied when asked about how he handled his nerves. “I kind of looked at it (the match) as if he was the favourite. He won the last time we played and he has had a better year than me so far.’
“He was hoping to get into his first (Grand Slam) semi-final and I was hungry to get into another semi-final. Luckily it worked out well for me.”

Awaiting the 24-year-old in the semi-finals on Friday will be Alexander Zverev who defeated Tomás Martín Etcheverry in four sets. He trails their head-to-head 1-2 but they have never faced each other on clay. 

“Ruud has been there before. He was in the final here last year, so he knows exactly what it means and what it takes,” Zverev told reporters.  

Ruud is now 16-5 this season when it comes to playing matches on the clay. Since the start of 2020, he has registered 86 wins on the surface which is more than any other player on the ATP Tour.

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