MIAMI: Iga Swiatek’s hopes of landing another ‘Sunshine Double’ ended as the world number one was knocked out of the Miami Open after inspired Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova triumphed 6-4, 6-2 in their fourth round match on Monday.

The 16th seed Alexandrova played brilliant attacking tennis from the outset to beat the Pole, who won the first leg of the Sunshine Double at Indian Wells earlier this month, and leave the WTA tournament without any of the top three seeds in the quarter-finals with Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff also out.

France’s Caroline Garcia upset world number three Gauff beating the American 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 on Monday to advance to the quarter-finals of the Miami Open, while world number two Aryna Sabalenka had been eliminated by Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina on Saturday.

“I just went out on the court and did my best, I think it went quite well,” said Alexandrova.

In the men’s draw, top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the round of 16 with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Gael Monfils and fourth seed Alexander Zverev escaped a tight first set en route to a 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 win over Christopher Eubanks to reach the last 16.

Swiatek, who captured the Sunshine Double in 2022, never broke Alexandrova’s serve and had no answer to her powerful and precise groundstrokes under the lights in South Florida.

“I just feel disappointed, for sure, because I thought I was going to play better here in Miami. But she played an amazing match and for sure was the better player out there today,” said the 22-year-old, four-time Grand Slam winner.

Alexandrova will next face fifth seed Jessica Pegula in the quarter-finals after she overcame fellow American Emma Navarro 7-6 (7/1), 6-3.

Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia’s serve was clicking early in her battle against Gauff and she never faced a break point in the opening set before the American raised her level to even the affair at a set apiece.

In the first game of the deciding set, Garcia fended off four break points to hold serve and broke at love to take a 2-0 lead she would not relinquish against her 20-year-old opponent.

“I think I stayed positive and optimistic about my serve,” Garcia said about the five break points she saved. “The first game of the third set was quite important for me and maybe for her also and I got a little bit lucky because my forehand was catching the line but also I went for it, so maybe it’s my reward.”

Next up for Garcia is American Danielle Collins, who beat Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 6-2.

Fourth seed Elena Rybakina powered past Madison Keys 6-3, 7-5 to dispatch Florida resident Keys and will next meet a well-rested Maria Sakkari after the Greek eighth seed got a walkover into the quarter-finals.

Sakkari was scheduled to play in the day’s opening match on the Grandstand court but advanced without hitting a ball as Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya withdrew ahead of their fourth-round match due to health issues.

In other early women’s mat­ches, Kazakhstan’s Yulia Puti­ntseva beat Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina, the 32nd seed, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5). Victoria Azarenka also progressed with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Britain’s Katie Boulter.

Alcaraz is on a quest to capture the ‘Sunshine Double’ after his triumph at Indian Wells and the 20-year-old was never really threatened in a match-up of two of the game’s most entertaining players.

The Spaniard appeared to be cruising to the finish line when he served for the match leading 5-2 but Monfils rifled a forehand winner to break and extend the match.

The comeback would prove short lived, however, with Alcaraz deploying a textbook serve and volley on his first match point to seal the win with a love hold.

Alcaraz, who won the tournament in 2022, will next face Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti, who beat American Ben Shelton 6-4, 7-6 (7/5).

“I know that Lorenzo is a really talented player so that’s a really tough one,” said Alcaraz. “But I am really happy with the level that I am playing, with the performance that I am bringing to the court.”

Awaiting Zverev in the last 16 will be 15th seed Khachanov, who converted his fifth match point to secure a 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (7/5) win over Argentine 20th seed Francisco Cerundolo.

Australian Alex De Minaur moved on with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 victory against 24th seed Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany.

De Minaur will face Fabian Marozsan in the next round after the Hungarian continued his impressive tournament with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Alexei Popyrin.

Hubert Hurkacz defeated American Sebastian Korda 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (5/7), 6-3 and will face Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov who beat Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann 6-0, 6-0.

The defeats for Korda, Shelton and Eubanks leave the USA with no representative in the fourth round of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2024