MIAMI: Second seed Jannik Sinner pulled off a Miami Open great escape by coming back from the brink with a gritty 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 win over Tallon Griekspoor to move into the fourth round on Sunday.

In contrast defending champion and third seed Daniil Medvedev had mostly drama free passage taking down Briton Cameron Norrie 7-5, 6-1 but there was no escape for sixth-seeded Dane Holger Rune who was swept aside 6-1, 6-1 by Fabian Marozsan in 59 minutes.

The men’s final that fans are hoping to see next weekend between Sinner and top seed Carlos Alcaraz seemed in danger when big-hitting Dutchman Griekspoor took the opening set and was serving for a 6-5 lead in the second.

But second seed Sinner, displaying some of the steel that has made him a Grand Slam champion, came through in the clutch by securing his first break of the match when he needed it most to go up 6-5 and then held serve to level the contest at 1-1.

After flirting with danger, the Italian took command by breaking the 26th-ranked Griekspoor at the first opportunity in the third set and broke a second time to go 5-1 ahead before serving out the match with a forehand winner into an open court.

“I think even the first set was really close, but it went away, said Sinner, who will next play Australian Christopher O’Connell, who emerged with a tight win over the USA’s Martin Damm 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5).

“Mentally I tried to stay strong, which I did, and I was in a tough situation today. “It’s been a tough day for me, but very happy about the result.”

Hungarian Marozsan, known for his delicate touch and one of best drop shots in the game, dominated Rune from the outset, striking 23 winners and saving all three break points that he face

Ranked 57th, danger man Marozsan is quickly developing a reputation as a giant killer, having last year knocked off then world number two Alcaraz in the third round of the Rome Masters, which was widely rated as the upset of the year.

Blocking Marozsan’s path to the fourth round is Australian Alexei Popyrin, who advanced with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Czech Jiri Lehecka.

There was an atmosphere akin to a South American World Cup football match for the clash between Chile’s 22nd-seeded Nicolas Jarry and Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild.

After upsetting American Taylor Fritz on Saturday, Seyboth Wild was hoping for another scalp and he pushed the more experienced Jarry hard in front of a packed mostly South American crowd on the third court.

Jarry’s staying power proved decisive as he ran out 6-7 (1/7), 7-5, 6-3 winner.

After three of the four top-ranked Americans exited the tournament on Saturday, Ben Shelton kept the Star Spangled flag flying in Florida with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Spanish teenager Martin Landaluce.

In the third round, Shelton will be against 23rd seed Italian Lorenzo Musetti, who defeated Russian Roman Safiullin 7-5, 6-1.

SWIATEK KEEPS NERVE

In the women’s tournament, world number one Iga Swiatek kept her nerve to beat 26th-ranked Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 6-4 and keep her bid for a second “Sunshine Double” — back-to-back wins at Indian Wells and Miami Open — on track.

While Swiatek was not at her best, the effort was enough to improve her season record to 22-2 and set up a meeting with 14th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the round of 16. Alexandrova went through with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

“Sometimes we have matches like that and we need to figure out how to close them anyway,” Swiatek told reporters. “For sure it wasn’t easy. There were just many ups and downs. I’m happy that after the first set I had a better idea on what to do, and I just tried to do that in important moments.”

France’s Caroline Garcia progressed to a fourth-round match against world number three Coco Gauff with a 7-6 (7/4), 7-5 win over Naomi Osaka.

Reigning US Open champion Gauff was down 4-2 in the first set to France’s Oceane Dodin before winning 10 straight games and running out a 6-4, 6-0 winner.

After a disappointing day for the American men on Saturday, the US women picked up the flag with fifth seed Jessica Pegula and 20th seed Emma Navarro also advancing.

Pegula, who has reached the Miami Open semi-finals for the last two years, took another step towards another appearance in the last four with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Canadian Leylah Fernandez.

Navarro, coming off a quarter-final run last week at Indian Wells where she beat world number two Aryna Sabalenka and 17th ranked Elina Svitolina, continued her superb form in Miami with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 third round win over Italian 12th seed Jasmine Paolini.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2024