Aurélie SACCHELLI, published on Sunday, March 28, 2021 at 8:59 a.m.
Unsurprisingly, Benoit Paire was eliminated in the second round of the Miami Masters 1000, by Lorenzo Musetti, while Ugo Humbert eliminated Joao Sousa and Adrian Mannarino defeated Miomir Kecmanovic. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Kei Nishikori or Milos Raonic on the other hand qualified. Alex De Minaur was beaten by the 113th world.
His arms raised on the match point said it all: Benoit Paire has finished his American tour, which ended with a victory and five losses, and he is delighted to return to Europe. Unsurprisingly, the French, seeded No. 23, was eliminated as soon as he entered the Miami Masters 1000 competition, by the promising Italian Lorenzo Musetti, 94th, who won 6-3, 6-3 in 1 hour of play. Pair however managed the break at the start of the match, but then lost two of his services. In the second set, Musetti broke at 1-1 and 5-3, losing only four points on his face-off, and therefore quietly won. We will now find Pair on clay, and it could hardly be worse … Musetti will be opposed for a place in eighth to Marin Cilic, now 45th in the world, who fought for 2:44 to beat the 20th, Cristian Garin: 3-6, 7-5, 7-6. The 15-ace Croatian lost his serve four times, but saved two 4-2 balls in the third set, before winning it 7-5 in the tie-break.
Solid Humbert and Mannarino
There will be two French in the third round, in the person of Ugo Humbert and Adrian Mannarino. The 30th player in the world and seeded No. 20 did not miss his debut in Miami, defeating Joao Sousa, 103rd in the world, 6-1, 6-4 in 1:12. Author of 6 aces and 56% of first balls, the Messin saved the two break points (which were 5-3 balls in the second set) that the Portuguese got, and broke it at 2- 1 and 4-1 in the first set and 4-4 in the second. Next opponent: Milos Raonic, who didn’t hang around either. The Canadian made short work of Jordan Thompson. Winner (6-2, 6-1) in one hour of play this Saturday, he played his best score in service. The 19th in the world won 86% of the points (32/37) on his faceoff, including 96% behind his first ball (22/23). Adrian Mannarino, seeded No. 25, defeated Miomir Kecmanovic 6-3, 6-4 in 1h30. The Frenchman notably served 7 aces and was only broken once. He took the opposing serve at 2-1 to win the first set, then found himself behind 3-1 in the second before making two breaks and winning on his third match point. For a place in the round of 16, the Habs will have to get rid of Diego Schwartzman. The Argentinian, seeded number 5 in the tournament, was rarely challenged by the Japanese Yasutaka Uchiyama and won in two sets (6-3, 6-3 in 1h22 ‘).
Tsitsipas and Rublev unroll, De Minaur cracks at the end
Stefanos Tsitsipas, seeded n ° 2 of the tournament, did not have any particular problems to get rid of the lucky-loser Damir Dzumhur: 6-1, 6-4 in 1:09. Author of 6 aces, 78% of first balls and no double fault, the Greek did not have the slightest break point to defend. Andrey Rublev, seed number 4, had no more problems to dominate in two sets Tennys Sandgren (6-1, 6-2 in 1h05 ‘) and join the seed number 29 Marton Fucsovics, striker of Thanasi Kokkinakis after a long fight (7-6, 6-7, 6-4 in 3h06 ‘). No. 28 seed Kei Nishikori also passed, but it was much more difficult. The Japanese had to fight for 2h52 to overcome Aljaz Bedene: 7-6, 5-7, 6-4, in a match marked by eight breaks, where he signed the decisive break at 3-3 in the third set. Qualification also of the seeded n ° 24, Lorenzo Sonego, to the detriment of the American Bjorn Fratangelo: 6-4, 7-6 in 1h45. Equivalent score for the seeded n ° 26, Hubert Hurkacz: 7-6, 6-4 in 1h35 against another American, Denis Kudla, the striker of Jérémy Chardy. Australian Open semi-finalist and winner of the Dubai tournament, No.17 seed Aslan Karatsev continues his journey, with a 6-4, 6-3 victory in 1h22 against Mikhail Kukushkin. The Russian trailed 4-2 early in the game but then took the measure of his opponent. Surprise, however, with the elimination of the No. 15 seed, Alex De Minaur, against the 113th world, the Colombian Daniel Galan, who won 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in 2h35, in winning the last twelve points of the match as the Australian led 4-3. Seed number 6, Denis Shapovalov was first worried by Ilya Ivashka, who won the first set in the decisive game. But the Canadian tightened the game to win the last two sets (6-7, 6-4, 6-4 in 2h58 ‘) and find Hubert Hurkacz in the next round. On the other hand, number 10 seed Fabio Fognini fell to Sebastian Korda. The American, clearly passed in the first round, found the solutions to win (1-6, 6-4, 6-2 in 1h48 ‘).
(With GI and MW)
MIAMI (United States, Masters 1000, hard outside, € 3,598,69)
Title holder (in 2019): Roger Federer (SUI)
3rd round
Medvedev (RUS, n ° 1) – Popyrin (AUS)
Tiafoe (USA) – Lajovic (SER, n ° 16)
Auger-Aliassime (CAN, n°11) – Isner (USA, n°18)
Struff (ALL, n ° 31) – Bautista Agut (ESP, n ° 7)
Rose Mountain (FIN) – M.Ymer (SUE)
Sinner (ITA, n°21) – Khachanov (RUS, n°14)
Norrie (GBR) – Fritz (USA, n°22)
Bublik (KAZ, n ° 32) – Duckworth (AUS)
Schwartzman (ARG, n ° 5) – Mannarino (FRA, n ° 25)
Karatsev (RUS, n ° 17) – Korda (USA)
Cilic (CRO) – Musetti (ITA)
Fucsovics (HON, n ° 29) – Rublev (RUS, n ° 4)
Shapovalov (CAN, n°6) – Hurkacz (POL, n°26)
Humbert (FRA, n°20) – Raonic (CAN, n°12)
Galan (COL) – Sonego (ITA, n°24)
Nishikori (JAP, n ° 28) – Tsitsipas (GRE, n ° 2)
2nd round
Medvedev (RUS, n°1) bat Lu (TAI): 6-2, 6-2
Popyrin (AUS) bat Opelka (USA, n°30) : 6-4, 6-2
Tiafoe (USA) bat Evans (GBR, n°19) : 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3
Lajovic (SER, n ° 16) bat Escobedo (USA, Q) : 6-2, 6-3
Auger-Aliassime (CAN, n°11) bat Herbert (FRA): 6-4, 6-4
Isner (USA, n°18) bat McDonald (USA, Q) : 2-6, 6-3, 7-5
Struff (ALL, n°31) bat Berankis (LIT): 6-3, 6-4
Bautista Agut (ESP, n ° 7) beats Harris (AFS): forfeit
Rose Mountain (FIN) bat A.Zverev (ALL, n°3) : 1-6, 6-3, 6-1
M.Ymer (SUE) bat Basilashvili (GEO, n°27) : 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
Sinner (ITA, n°21) bat Gaston (FRA, WC): 6-2, 6-2
Khachanov (RUS, n°14) bat Hanfmann (ALL) : 6-3, 6-2
Norrie (GBR) beat Dimitrov (BUL, No. 9): 7-5, 7-5
Fritz (USA, n°22) bat Giron (USA): 6-2, 6-2
Public (CASE, n ° 32) bat Djere (SER): 6-3, 6-4
Duckworth (AUS) bat Goffin (BEL, n ° 8): 6-3, 6-1
Schwartzman (ARG, n°5) bat Uchiyama (JAP): 6-3, 6-3
Mannarino (FRA, n ° 25) bat Kecmanovic (SER): 6-3, 6-4
Karatsev (RUS, n ° 17) bat Kukushkin (KAZ): 6-4, 6-3
Korda (USA) bat Fognini (ITA, n°10) : 1-6, 6-4, 6-2
Cilic (CRO) bat Garin (CHI, n ° 13): 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5)
Musetti (ITA) bat Paire (FRA, n ° 23): 6-3, 6-3
Fucsovics (HON, n ° 29) bat Kokkinakis (AUS, Q): 7-6 (3), 6-7 (4), 6-4
Rublev (RUS, n°4) bat Sandgren (USA): 6-1, 6-2
Shapovalov (CAN, n°6) bat Ivashka (BIE) : 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4
Hurkacz (POL, n°26) bat Food (USA): 7-6 (5), 6-4
Humbert (FRA, n ° 20) bat J.Sousa (POR): 6-1, 6-4
Raonic (CAN, n°12) bat Thompson (AUS): 6-2, 6-1
Galan (COL) beat De Minaur (AUS, No. 15): 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Sonego (ITA, n ° 24) but Fratangelo (USA, Q), 6-4, 7-6 (5)
Nishikori (JAP, n°28) bat Bedene (SLO): 7-6 (6), 5-7, 6-4
Tsitsipas (GRE, n ° 2) bat Dzumhur (BOS, LL) : 6-1, 6-4
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