Alcaraz, Rybakina stay on course for tennis’ ‘Sunshine Double’ in Miami
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Spain's Carlos Alcaraz celebrates after his straight sets victory over Tommy Paul, of the United States.
PHOTO: AFP
MIAMI – Indian Wells champions Carlos Alcaraz and Elena Rybakina had only one thing on their minds as they clinched straight-set victories at the Miami Open on Tuesday – completing the “Sunshine Double”.
Spain’s world No. 1 Alcaraz deployed his dynamic game to tame Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-4 at the Hard Rock Stadium and set up a quarter-final clash with another American, Taylor Fritz, who eased past Denmark’s Holger Rune 6-3, 6-4 earlier in the day.
“I feel at home here. It is easy to play here in Miami with all the energy I receive every day,” the teenage sensation said.
“I am enjoying myself and I think that is the key to playing at such a high level every match. I hope to keep going, to play the same level in the quarter-final.
“I moved well, defended well and I counter-attacked. If I play at that same level, I will have a lot of chances to get through.”
The 19-year-old showcased his sensational speed and reflexes to reach a drop shot for love-30 and broke Paul two points later for a 3-2 advantage.
An acrobatic overhead winner gave Paul a break point at 5-4 but Alcaraz recovered, unleashing a perfectly disguised drop shot of his own that Paul could not chase down to claim the first set.
The 25-year-old fell behind an early break again in the second set on a missed forehand for 2-1.
Paul, who came from behind to beat Alcaraz in their only previous meeting at the 2022 Canadian Open, then fended off a match point while serving at 5-3.
But there would be no escape from Alcaraz, the top-seeded teenager letting out a mighty roar when Paul’s forehand landed out of bounds to end the contest.
“The key was that I was playing to attack,” Alcaraz added.
“I didn’t let him play his game – attack and go to the net – I did those things first... I played a really complete match.”
He is now three wins away from the “Sunshine Double” of Indian Wells and Miami titles, something he needs to retain his world No. 1 ranking from Novak Djokovic.
A cool, confident Fritz earlier booked his ticket to a fifth straight quarter-final by beating fellow top-10 player Rune.
The ninth seed pumped his racket in a subdued celebration after an unreturnable serve wrapped up victory over the seventh-seeded Rune, who failed to convert five of his six break-point chances.
Fritz is on the hunt for a second Masters 1000 title after winning Indian Wells in 2022.
Taylor Fritz is on the hunt for a second Masters 1000 title after winning Indian Wells in 2022.
“It helps when I can grab early breaks in the sets and just play solid tennis,” he said.
“Serve well and hold on to the breaks – that always makes the match a lot easier.”
On the women’s side, Rybakina enjoyed a business-like 6-3, 6-0 win to dispatch 25th seed Martina Trevisan to move two wins away from her second title of the year.
The 10th-seeded Kazakh deployed her clean groundstrokes and feasted on the Italian’s soft second serve in the tight first set.
But it was all Rybakina in the second, the powerful and precise Wimbledon champion pounding an unreturnable serve on match point to wrap up the match in 69 minutes and notch her 12th straight victory.
Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina notched up her 12th consecutive win.
“I would say that, of course, maybe I’m moving not as good as I was moving in Indian Wells but, overall, I’m trying to keep that level from Indian Wells,” said the 23-year-old after reaching the semi-finals.
“There are a lot of ups-and-downs, but overall it’s not bad.”
Rybakina will next face third-seeded American Jessica Pegula, who defeated 27th-seeded Russian Anastasia Potapova 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2). REUTERS, AFP
