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Rediff.com  » Sports » Tennis: Bopanna-Shapovalov in Miami Open quarters

Tennis: Bopanna-Shapovalov in Miami Open quarters

March 28, 2022 09:28 IST
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Bopanna and Shapovalov earlier registered a fighting 6-7(5), 6-2, 10-3 win over Marceloa Avrevalo of El Salvador and Jean-Juien Rojer of Netherlands in the opening round

IMAGE: Bopanna and Shapovalov earlier registered a fighting 6-7(5), 6-2, 10-3 win over Marceloa Avrevalo of El Salvador and Jean-Juien Rojer of Netherlands in the opening round. Photograph: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

India's Rohan Bopanna and his Canadian partner Denis Shapovalov stunned top seeded Croatian pair of Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic in straight sets to enter men's doubles quarter-finals at the Miami Open tennis tournament in Miami.

The unseeded Indo-Canadian pair surprised Mektic and Pavic 6-3, 7-6(3) in a second round doubles match on Sunday.

 

Bopanna and Shapovalov will now face the sixth seeded pair of Wesley Koolhof of Netherlands and Great Britain's Neal Skupski for a place in the last four.

Koolhof and Skupski defeated Spanish-Italian combination of Pedro Martinez and Lorenzo Sonego 6-3, 7-6(8) in the second round.

Bopanna and Shapovalov earlier registered a fighting 6-7(5), 6-2, 10-3 win over Marceloa Avrevalo of El Salvador and Jean-Juien Rojer of Netherlands in the opening round of the ATP Masters 1000 event.

Sinner survives five match points in Miami, Gauff, Norrie advance

Italy's Jannik Sinner reacts after winning a game against Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta in a third round men's singles match at the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium at Miami Gardens in Florida on Sunday

IMAGE: Italy's Jannik Sinner reacts after winning a game against Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta in a third round men's singles match at the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium at Miami Gardens in Florida on Sunday. Photograph: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sportsa

Jannik Sinner saved five match points before advancing past Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 in the third round of the Miami Open on Sunday, while second seed Alexander Zverev enjoyed a much smoother path to the last 16.

Carreno Busta had Sinner on the ropes in the 10th game of the second set, nearly breaking him for the match before the Italian recovered to hold serve and convert on a chance in the next game.

They traded breaks in the third before a marathon 10th game in which the Spaniard almost broke his opponent for the win four times.

World No 11 Sinner survived and converted on a chance in the next game to seize the advantage. Serving for the match, he clinched the affair with a forehand winner as the crowd leapt to its feet and cheered.

The 2021 runner-up next faces Australian Nick Kyrgios, who put in a clinical performance to down Italian Fabio Fognini 6-2, 6-4, dropping just five first-serve points.

Zverev made short work of American Mackenzie McDonald, winning 6-2, 6-2 in 73 minutes to set up a last 16 meeting with Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis, who came through a tight contest against Denis Kudla 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(4).

Also reaching the next round was Francisco Cerundolo, who beat Gael Monfils 6-2, 6-3, but it was the end of the road for his younger brother, Juan Manuel Cerundolo, who lost 6-3, 6-2 to Frances Tiafoe.

American Coco Gauff kept alive her bid for a maiden WTA 1000 title, firing off five aces to overcome China's Zhang Shuai 7-6(1), 7-5.

"I just kind of mentally was hanging in there. I wasn't playing my best," Gauff told reporters.

"I knew it was going to be a tough match, and I was glad that I was able to pull it out today."

British No 1 Cameron Norrie overcame a slow start to beat Frenchman Hugo Gaston 6-3, 7-5.

Norrie, who triumphed at Indian Wells last year and won at Delray Beach five weeks ago, opened the contest by dropping serve but kept his nerve as three break points went begging in the next game before he finally converted the fourth.

Norrie fired down his seventh ace on his eighth match point to set up a meeting with world number eight Casper Ruud, who has beaten the Briton on both of their previous meetings.

Ruud dispatched Alexander Bublik 6-3, 6-2 in less than an hour and had the best seat in the house when his Kazakh opponent produced a highlight-reel-worthy shot in the second set.

Bublik flipped his racquet over and tapped an overhead shot with the handle.

"You will be on Tennis TV like always," Ruud quipped to Bublik.

Spanish fifth seed Paula Badosa scored a 6-3, 6-2 win over Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva, who was so frustrated with her display she slammed her racquet into the ground with such force that it flew back up and almost hit her.

Last year's Indian Wells champion Badosa next faces 16-year-old Czech wildcard Linda Fruhvirtova, who advanced after former world number one Victoria Azarenka retired midway through the second set.

Fruhvirtova was leading 6-2, 3-0 when Azarenka informed the chair umpire that she was done and walked briskly off the court.

"I don't even know how to describe it," Fruhvirtova said courtside.

"It's what I've always dreamed of, playing in these big stadiums in front of so many people.

"It's definitely a dream come true."

Victoria Azarenka said her personal life had been "extremely stressful" in recent weeks and that she should not have played at the Miami Open on Sunday after the former world number one retired against 16-year-old Czech Linda Fruhvirtova.

Wildcard Fruhvirtova was leading 6-2, 3-0 when the 32-year-old Azarenka informed the chair umpire that she was done and left the court.

"I shouldn't have gone on the court today," Azarenka later said in a statement.

"The last few weeks have been extremely stressful in my personal life. Last match took so much out of me, but I wanted to play in front of a great audience as they helped me pull through my first match.

"I wanted to go out there and try but it was a mistake."

Azarenka, who won the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013, had a year-long maternity break in 2016-17. A split with her partner and a custody battle over son Leo that was not settled until 2018 also hampered her career.

The Belarusian, who is playing on Tour without the name or flag of her country following sanctions relating to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, broke down in tears during her defeat to Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina at Indian Wells this month.

She defeated Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova in a final set tiebreak in her previous round at the WTA 1000 event in Miami.

"I hope to take a break and be able to come back," Azarenka added.

"I always look forward to the challenge and pressure of competition but today it was too much. I have to and will learn from this."

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