MIAMI: Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka kept their “Sunshine Double” dreams alive with emphatic victories at the ATP/WTA Miami Open on Monday as defending men’s champion Jakub Mensik joined a slew of seeds who crashed out.

Sinner and Sabalenka are bidding to join an elite band of players who have won Indian Wells and the Miami Open back-to-back, and arrived in Florida brimming with confidence after their respective victories in the California desert earlier this month.

Women’s world number one Sabalenka, defending the Miami title she won for the first time last year, cruised into the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-4 demolition of China’s 2024 Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen.

Sinner, who is chasing a second victory in Miami after lifting the title in 2024, was similarly comfortable in his third-round clash with French 30th seed Corentin Moutet, winning 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the last 16.

Sabalenka is aiming to become only the fifth woman to complete the Indian Wells-Miami double after Steffi Graf, Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka and Iga Swiatek.

On Monday’s form, few would bet against the big-hitting four-time Grand Slam champion from Belarus, who comfortably disposed of 23rd seed Zheng in 1hr 25min.

“She’s a tough opponent and I’m super happy with the level I played at today,” Sabalenka said in her on-court interview. “I can definitely say that it felt like home.

“I feel like I’m getting better, serving better, getting used to these conditions, which are tricky. But I’m getting more and more comfortable with every match,” added Sabalenka, who faces unseeded American Hailey Baptiste in the quarter-finals.

Baptiste was one of three American women to advance to the last eight on Monday.

Fourth seed Coco Gauff downed Romanian veteran Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, while fifth seed Jessica Pegula beat another Romanian, Jacqueline Cristian 6-4, 6-1.

“I think overall I’m most proud of just mentally staying in there,” Gauff said. “As the match got longer I was able to raise my level,” added Gauff, who will face 12th seed Belinda Bencic in the quarter-finals after the Swiss player downed home hope Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 6-2.

Canada’s Victoria Mboko, seeded 10, upset Russian eighth seed Mirra Andreeva 7-6(7/4), 4-6, 6-0 to set up a quarter-final with Czech 13th seed Karolina Muchova, who strolled past Alexandra Eala of the Philippines 6-0, 6-2.

Former US Open champion Andy Roddick was full of praises for Mboko after her impressive win.

“Mboko is going to win a slam in the next two years,” Roddick said on his Served with Andy Roddick podcast. “She’s making the quarters or better in every single event. She gets through tough three-set matches all the time,” he added.

In the men’s draw, Italian second seed Sinner was always in control against France’s Moutet on the Hard Rock Stadium’s main court.

Sinner will face unseeded American Alex Michelsen in the last 16. Michelsen defeated Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 earlier on Monday.

But while Sinner sailed through, defending champion Mensik was among the latest crop of seeds to tumble out, losing a gruelling three-setter against 19th seed Frances Tiafoe 7-6(7/4), 4-6, 7-6(13/11).

A 2hr 55min slug-fest was decided by a marathon third set tiebreak when Czech 20-year-old Mensik saved six match points before finally succumbing.

US hope Tiafoe, who himself saved two match points in the final tiebreak, sealed victory after converting his seventh match point when a Mensik return of serve drifted wide.

Tiafoe will face France’s Terence Atmane in the last 16. Atmane powered into the fourth round with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 upset of Canadian seventh seed Felix Auger-Aliassime on Monday.

Auger-Aliassime joined a lengthening list of seeds who have stumbled in the early rounds in Miami that includes Indian Wells runner-up Daniil Medvedev, who was shown the door earlier Monday in a 6-0, 4-6, 7-5 loss to Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo.

“It was a great match, super tough,” Cerundolo said. “It was my first match against Daniil. He’s probably one of the only guys on Tour who I have never played.

“I didn’t know what to expect. He has had a great year so far, so I didn’t expect to be up 6-0 in the first set and a break up in the second. He started playing super good. But I kept believing and stayed there in the match.”

Medvedev’s exit followed the departures of world number one Carlos Alcaraz, Australian fifth seed Alex De Minaur and eighth seed Ben Shelton.

Another French player, 31st seed Ugo Humbert, beat Kazakhstan’s Alexander Shevchenko 6-4, 7-6 (7/2).

Third seed Alexander Zverev got past Croatian veteran Marin Cilic 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2026