Australian Open champion Madison Keys on Sunday crashed out of the Miami Open suffering a shock loss to 19-year-old Filipina wildcard Alexandra Eala.
Russian 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva, coming off back-to-back WTA 1000 wins in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Indian Wells, also exited in the third round, her 13-match winning streak ending with a three sets loss to the US’ Amanda Anisimova.
Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and China’s Jiang Xinyu advanced to the women’s doubles quarter-finals after the US’ Jessica Pegula and Ashlyn Krueger retired.
Photo: AFP
The 6-4, 6-2 win for Eala over fifth-seeded American Keys prompted her to hug her team and celebrate passionately after she became the first woman from the Philippines to beat a top-10 opponent since the ranking system came into being in 1975. Eala, the 2022 US Open girls’ singles champion who has been based to the Rafael Nadal academy in Mallorca, Spain, since she was 13, would take on Spain’s Paula Badosa for a spot in the quarter-finals.
“Growing up it was tough,” Eala said in her on-court interview. “You didn’t have anyone from where you’re from to pave the way. Of course, you had many people to look up to around the world, but I think — I hope this takes Filipino tennis to the next step.”
Keys, who was badly beaten by Aryna Sabalenka in the Indian Wells semi-finals, conceded she was well short of her best form.
Photo: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images/USA Today
“My serve was not really there today, and I just kind of felt a little flat — and when you are playing someone who makes a ton of balls back and absorbs really well, that’s not really the keys to success,” Keys said.
Andreeva, the 11th seed, hoped to continue her rise up the rankings with a strong showing in Miami, but appeared to be hampered by injury as she lost to 17th seeded Miami resident Anisimova.
Andreeva received lengthy medical attention in her abdominal area when 2-1 down in the first set, which she lost 7-6 (7/5).
Photo: AFP
She bounced back, dominating the second set 6-2, but Anisimova won the third set of the 2 hour and 49-minute battle 6-3.
Anisimova is to face Emma Raducanu in the fourth round, after the British player advanced when the US’ McCartney Kessler retired injured in the second set of their encounter.
Iga Swiatek overcame a determined Elise Mertens to secure a 7-6 (7/2), 6-1 victory and take her place in the last 16 at a WTA 1000 tournament for a record 25th straight event.
Second-seeded Swiatek has not lost before the last 16 at this level since Cincinnati 2021.
The Pole was 5-2 up in the first set, but Mertens fought back to make it 5-5 before Swiatek was able to regain her dominance in the tie-break.
Swiatek did not look back from that point on, making short work of the second set as her struggles on serve improved.
In the men’s draw, Novak Djokovic broke the record for the most ATP Masters 1000 match wins with his 6-1, 7-6 (7/1) win over Argentine Camilo Ugo Carabelli.
The Serb’s 411th win at this level takes him past the previous record set by Nadal.
Belgian veteran David Goffin, who eliminated world No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz in the previous round, fell to the US’ Brandon Nakashima, who won 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3.
Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, who won his first title in over a year last month at Dubai, fell to 24th-seeded American Sebastian Korda 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.
“It’s awesome. I was born in Florida. My whole family is here. It’s just a lot of fun to play here and get my first top 10 win of the year,” Korda said. “I tried to serve well, tried to come to the net when I could, and I’m just happy with my performance today.”
Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov battled to a 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 7-5 win over Karen Khachanov in a contest in which the baseline predictably dominated.
The 33-year-old’s victory, secured over two hours and 38 minutes, made Dimitrov the fourth active player to tally 100 Masters 1000 hard-court wins.
“It’s great. Last year I think I hit 100 wins indoors, now this. It’s beautiful I think every time you hit such a milestone,” Dimitrov said. “We know each other very well, we practice with each other a lot, so there weren’t really secrets. At the end of the day, it came down to a few points.”
France’s Gael Monfils delighted his supporters defeating Spaniard Jaume Munar 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (7/1).
Additional reporting by staff writer
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