MIAMI – Canadian Denis Shapovalov advanced to the third round of the Miami Open by defeating Argentinian Guido Pella in three sets 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 on Friday.
Shapovalov got his third break of the game, in the eighth game of the final set, when Pella double faulted.
The Canadian then won his serve at zero to advance to the third round. He will face the American Taylor Fritz, seeded ninth, or the American Emilio Nava.
Shapovalov (No. 25) was given a bye to the second round in Miami.
The Ontarian recorded a quick break to take a 2-0 lead in the first set. He then saved a break point and hit an ace on his first set point in the ninth game.
Pella smashed his opponent to give himself a 3-1 lead in the second set, but Shapovalov broke the Argentine in the next game
In the third round, Shapovalov, who is ranked 30th in the world, will face the winner of the duel between Americans Taylor Frtiz and Emilio Nava.
Saturday, the Quebecer and fifth seed Félix Auger-Aliassime will face the Brazilian Thiago Monteiro, in the second round.
Alcaraz passes like a tornado
Five days following his triumph in Indian Wells, world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz kicked off his title defense in Miami.
Two games conceded in barely 64 minutes on the court. Suffice to say that the determination of the 19-year-old Spaniard was up to his eagerness to get rid, bluntly (6-0, 6-2), of the Argentinian Facundo Bagnis (100th).
“Starting a new tournament is never easy, the conditions are different. I had to be ready. I was really focused on the game from the start and I’m happy with the way I played,” commented Alcaraz, who has been chasing the “Sunshine Double” (IndianWells/Miami double) since his landslide victory last Sunday. in the California desert at the expense of Daniil Medvedev.
It continues for Sinner and Rublev
Jannik Sinner (11th in the world) had a quiet start and Andrey Rublev (7th) more upset to reach the third round.
Sinner had no trouble beating Serbian Laslo Djere (58th) 6-3, 6-2.
The 21-year-old Italian accelerated following being broken at 4-3 in the first set, winning the next six games to pull away 6-3, 3-0. He then easily maintained his advantage to finish in 1:23.
Rublev, he took 18 more minutes to dismiss American JJ Wolf (50th) 7-6 (3), 6-4.
The 25-year-old Russian, who did not go beyond the 1/8th finals in Indian Wells, was broken from the start of the match. Overwhelmed by his opponent’s aggressiveness, he also made a lot of mistakes and often got angry on the court. But he recovered by relying on a solid first ball (16 aces) to enforce the logic of the classification.
“I didn’t know what to expect for my first game here. I didn’t have a lot of time to adapt. After the break conceded entry, so it was not easy (…) I had to wait for my moment. When it happened (while Wolf was leading 5-4, editor’s note), I started to play a little better and felt more confident,” he said followingwards.
Semi-finalist of the event in 2021, Rublev will face the Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic (35th) or the Frenchman Ugo Humbert (78th) in the next round.
Earlier in the day, Emil Ruusuvuori (54th) also passed, beating 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), as in Indian Wells two weeks earlier, the Spaniard Roberto Bautista (28th). The Finn will be opposed to the German Alexander Zverev (15th) or the Japanese Taro Daniel (97th).
