Sports Desk, Mar 25 (EFE).- World number two Carlos Alcaraz qualified for the round of 16 of the Miami Open with a 6-2, 6-4 win against Frenchman Gael Monfils, who had problems with his left foot during their match on Monday.
Italian Lorenzo Musetti, who beat American Ben Shelton 6-4, 7-6, is lined up against Alcaraz, the recent champion at the Indian Wells Open, in the next round of the Masters ATP 1,000 tournament.
Alcaraz, who is in brilliant form, did not have to play to his full potential against Monfils due to the Frenchman’s injury in his left foot.
After just over a quarter of an hour of play, Monfils, 37, hurt himself while hitting a backhand shot and fell to the ground.
He did not receive medical attention but stretched his left foot, trying to quell the pain which, from that point on, clearly hindered his mobility and accuracy.
Alcaraz has already proved to be a nightmare for French tennis players, with a marvelous 12-1 record against them.
His only defeat to a French player has been against Hugo Gaston in 2021 at the Paris Masters.
NBA Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler, who’s a friend of Alcaraz, Brazilian football player Neymar, and former Argentine tennis player Juan Martín Del Potro were among those in attendance at the Hard Rock Stadium.
Alcaraz is aiming to complete the “Sunshine Double” with Roger Federer being the last man to achieve the feat in 2017.
Polish world number one and Indian Wells Iga Swiatek also missed out a chance of landing a “Sunshine Double” this year in women’s singles after her elimination on Monday by Ekaterina Alexandrova.
The 14th seeded Russian beat Swiatek 6-4, 6-2 in one hour and 23 minutes in her first-ever match-up against a reigning world number one.
“I’m feeling disappointed right now because I was expecting to perform better here in Miami. My opponent played an amazing match and was the better player today,” Swiatek said after the match.
The world number three Coco Gauff was defeated by ’s Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 in the round of 16 on Monday.
After the elimination of Belarusian world number two Aryna Sabalenka, Swiatek and Gauff were the two highest-ranked tennis players at the Florida event. EFE
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