Hubert Hurkacz saved 5 match factors as he fought again to beat Thanasi Kokkinakis in a 3 and a half hour epic whereas fourth-seed Daniil Medvedev acquired his Miami Open bid below approach with a simple win on Saturday.
Hurkacz was pushed all the best way by the Australian fortunate loser Kokkinakis earlier than rising with a 6-7 (10/12), 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (8/6) victory.
The Aussie had proven his mettle by saving six set factors as he gained the first-set tie-break and Hurkacz, the 2021 Miami champion, saved three match factors within the second-set tie-break and one other two within the final-set breaker.
“It’s tough to explain for me. I was just trying to stay in there and compete, play some good shots,” mentioned Hurkacz, the eighth seed at Hard Rock Stadium.
Kokkinakis was on serve at 6-4 up within the remaining set tie-break however Hurkacz produced a shocking winner up the road and that shot lastly turned the tide decisively in direction of the Pole, who gained the subsequent three factors to settle the competition.
The three hours, 31 minutes contest was the longest best-of-three ATP match of the 12 months to this point.
In distinction, Indian Wells runner-up Medvedev barely broke sweat beating Spanish clay-court specialist Roberto Carballes Baena 6-1, 6-2 in simply 62 minutes.
The Russian’s loss to Carlos Alcaraz within the Indian Wells remaining had ended his 19-match successful streak, however he was completely dominant as he struck 18 winners to the Carballes Baena’s 5.
Medvedev made use of the drop shot, which Alcaraz had used to good impact towards him final week, and joked that he had been making an attempt to emulate the world primary.
“I thought I needed to use that shot more. I’ve always liked drop shots but it’s not a weapon in my game that I’m going to use 50 times a match,” he mentioned.
Looking ahead
“You need to have confidence in the shot and today it worked pretty well,” he mentioned.
“I’m happy with my first match, solid performance, looking forward for next matches,” he added.
Medvedev turned the primary participant to succeed in 25 wins this season on both the ATP or WTA excursions.
Americans Christopher Eubanks and Mackenzie McDonald produced upset wins to guide their locations within the third spherical.
Eubanks pulled off the largest win of his profession to this point to beat Seventeenth-ranked Croatian Borna Coric 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 whereas McDonald beat Italy’s Matteo Berrettini 7-6 (10/8), 7-6 (7/5).
The 26-year-old Eubanks, ranked 119th on the planet, recovered from a primary set the place the Croat appeared in agency management to please the house crowd.
“I honestly felt like I wasn’t playing that bad. I just wasn’t executing,” Eubanks mentioned. “I felt like my game plan was right. I wanted to be disruptive. I wanted to get the net. I just wasn’t executing on shots. I can kind of live with that.
“So I said, ‘Well, I feel like I’m playing the right way. If I just continue to try it, hopefully the execution errors will lessen and I’ll be able to find my range.’ I was able to do that.”
McDonald gained a thriller towards Twenty third-ranked Berrettini, edging each tie-breaks and surviving two set factors within the twelfth recreation of the second set.
Czech Jiri Lehecka’s spectacular type continued as he took out 18th seed Lorenzo Musetti.
The 21-year-old, who reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final in Australia, triumphed 6-4, 6-4 to succeed in the third spherical of a Masters 1000 occasion for the primary time.
Two-time Grand Slam runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas superior into the third spherical after France’s Richard Gasquet withdrew with an ankle damage.
Greek quantity two seed Tsitsipas, will subsequent face Chile’s Cristian Garin, who beat Argentine Sebastian Baez 7-6 (7/2), 6-3.
Tsitsipas was runner-up at this 12 months’s Australian Open and the 2021 French Open however misplaced his opening spherical match at Indian Wells earlier this month.
Source: sportstar.thehindu.com