Third-seeded Casper Ruud was the only upset victim on Sunday at the Miami Open, losing in three sets to Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands in the third round, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
van de Zandschulp, ranked 32nd in the world and seeded 26th, doubled up Ruud in aces 12-6. He also saved 13 of 15 break points, compared to 3 of 6 for the Norwegian.
“It was an unbelievable tough match. He had so many chances in the third set. When I broke back for 3-2, I was holding and had a feeling that I had a chance in his service games. At 5-4, I had one opportunity and I took it,” van de Zandschulp said afterward.
Their match was the only one to go more than two sets on Sunday.
Next for van de Zandschulp is a matchup with Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland, who defeated wild card Taro Daniel of Japan 6-3, 7-6 (3) on Sunday.
Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz of Spain breezed through his first set but had to work harder in the second en route to beating Serbian Dusan Lajovic 6-0, 7-6 (5).
Alcaraz, who is coming off a win at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., had the only three aces of the match and finished with 26 winners to eight for Lajovic. He ran his season record to 16-1.
“I feel fast on court, I am moving well,” said Alcaraz, who is 16-1 on the season. “I am happy with the variety I am playing [with]. Lots of shots. I am enjoying every single second out there.”
Next up for Alcaraz is the 16th-seeded American Tommy Paul, who defeated the 20th seed, Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, 6-3, 7-5.
Four more seeded players posted wins over seeded opponents: No. 6 Andrey Rublev, No. 7 Holger Rune, ninth-seeded Taylor Fritz and 10th-seeded Jannik Sinner.
Russia’s Rublev had little trouble with the No. 29 seed, Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic, 6-1, 6-2; Rune, of Denmark, defeated 31st-seeded Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-4, 6-2; Fritz, of the U.S., knocked out 24th-seeded Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-4; and Sinner, of Italy, eliminated No. 21 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 6-3, 6-4.
Sinner improved to 18-4 this season, the best start of his career. He made it to the finals in Indian Wells before falling to Alcaraz.
“It’s the first time I have played in the evening. I can be very happy with my returning game, especially on second serves, when I tried to be very aggressive. He’s such a talented and intelligent player, so I am very happy about how I played today,” Sinner said of Dimitrov.
Also, fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia advanced with a walkover against Slovakia’s Alex Molcan, who withdrew with a right hip injury.
–Field Level Media
