M 1000 MIAMI OPEN. By Emiliano Naftali
American Frances Tiafoe, the No 16 seed, advanced to the third round of the Miami Masters by defeating Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-5, 7-6 (5). After an early exit in Indian Wells, Frances Tiafoe moved back on track Saturday with an opening win at the Miami Open presented by Itau.
Photo Gabriel Matteazzi
It took Tiafoe two hours to overcome Davidovich Fokina, who committed 31 unforced errors during the match.The American hit ten aces, 22 winners and broke his Spanish opponent twice to record his 50th career Masters 1000 victory, also saving five out of six break points on his serve.
“Wins like that are big for me,” said Tiafoe, who saved all four break points he faced after dropping serve in the opening game. “Any win right now is big for me, but especially the way I played. I was super aggressive, so I’m really happy with it.”
“I’m not even worried about the upsets. I’ve been getting upset every week,” he said. “I keep saying it: I’ve been on Tour for a long time, and the depth of the game is at an all-time high. You’ve got old guys who are still hanging on, you’ve got young guys who are playing elite, trying to make their way into the Tour, and then you’ve got the top guys trying to hang on for dear life. The Tour is madness. Guys are good out here.”
SATURDAY
Matteo Berrettini (29) beat Hugo Gaston (LL): 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
Zizou Bergs beat Andrey Rublev (8): 7-5, 6-4
Joao Fonseca beat Ugo Humbert (19): 6-4, 6-3
Reilly Opelka beat Holger Rune (11): 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5)
Roman Safiullin beat Alexei Popyrin (25): 6-7 (4), 6-3, 7-5
Jakub Mensik beat Jack Draper (6): 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3)
Denis Shapovalov (27) beat Thiago Agustin Tirante (Q): 6-3, 6-7 (1), 7-6 (3)
Jordan Thompson beat Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (28): 7-6 (4), 7-6 (1)
Tomas Machac (20) beat Matteo Arnaldi: 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
Taylor Fritz (3) beat Lorenzo Sonego: 7-6 (2), 6-3
Alexander Zverev (1) beat Jacob Fearnley (Q): 6-2, 6-4
Chak Lam Coleman Wong (WC) beat Ben Shelton (13): 7-6 (3), 2-6, 7-6 (5)
Adam Walton (LL) beat Luciano Darderi: 6-4, 6-4
David Goffin beat Carlos Alcaraz (2): 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
Francisco Cerundolo (23) beat Alexandre Muller: 6-1, 6-2