Fourth seed Alexander Zverev endured little difficulty during his blockbuster fourth round clash with Nick Kyrgios at the Miami Masters.
The 20-year-old entered the match winning only two out of his five previous meetings against the Australian, but was the more complete player in their latest match. Firmly focused on the proceedings, Zverev roared to a 6-4, 6-4, win after just 71 minutes of play. Recording a second consecutive win over Kyrgios for the first time in his career.
“It’s always entertaining playing him. I think the crowd enjoys it. The media hypes it up a little bit. We both enjoy this kind of stage. I think the crowd was loving it today,” Zverev told atpworldtour.com. “Obviously I’m very happy with how I played, and hopefully I can continue doing so in the next few rounds.”
During his straight sets clash, Zverev hit 22 winners to 13 unforced errors and only dropped his serve once in the match. In comparison, a more erratic Kyrgios produced twice as many errors than winners at 27 to 13.
Reaching his second tournament quarter-final of 2018, Zverev will next take on Borna Coric. The Croat is currently relishing a surge in his form after reaching the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. His best ever performance in a Masters 1000 tournament to date. A composed Coric booked his place in the Miami last eight with a hard fought 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-4, win over Denis Shapovalov.
Very happy to be in quartefinals at @MiamiOpen 😬😬😬😬 https://t.co/Wb6YdqAkAJ
— borna coric (@borna_coric) 27 March 2018
The upcoming meeting gives Zverev an opportunity to get revenge on Coric following his loss to him in the second round of the US Open last year. He is yet to defeat the 21-year-old on the tour after also losing their other clash at the 2015 Cincinnati Masters.
“He’s improved a lot, making the semi-finals of Indian Wells, making the quarter-finals here already. I think he’s playing great ball. Hopefully it will be another entertaining one, and we’ll see how it goes,” Zverev said about facing Coric for a third time.
Whoever wins the upcoming match will achieve their best ever run at the Miami Open. Zverev is yet to progress beyond the quarter-final stage and Coric is currently enjoying his best ever run at the event.
