MIAMI: Jannik Sinner powered into the Miami Open quarter-finals on Tuesday, defeating unseeded American Alex Michelsen in straight sets to stay on course for the “Sunshine Double”.

Italian second seed Sinner, who is bidding to follow up his triumph at Indian Wells with victory in Miami, bided his time before completing a 7-5, 7-6(7/4) win in 1hr 41min.

The four-time Grand Slam champion, who will face 19th seed Frances Tiafoe in the last eight, was made to work hard by the 40th-ranked Michelsen.

After a cagey opening Sinner began to put pressure on Michelsen’s serve in the ninth game of the first set, carving out three break points.

Michelsen rode out that storm, but Sinner finally broke through in the 11th game before serving out for the first set.

Michelsen hit back in the second set, breaking Sinner for a 4-2 lead before holding to go 5-2 up.

Michelsen appeared to struggle with the bright late afternoon sunlight on the Hard Rock Stadium’s main court and Sinner came roaring back to force a tiebreak.

Sinner sealed the win with a thumping serve that Michelsen could only return wide.

“I feel like I served very well in important moments and that helped me out, especially in the tough moments,” said Sinner, who unfurled 15 aces to Michelsen’s three.

“But today was not easy — I played a night match yesterday and today in the daytime, so the conditions were very different.”

Home hope Tiafoe advanced to his quarter-final date with Sinner after battling past France’s Terence Atmane 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.

Spanish qualifier Martin Landaluce, ranked 151st in the world, upset American 32nd seed Sebastian Korda to score a 2-6, 7-6(8/6), 6-4 victory.

The win marked another impressive victory for the 20-year-old Landaluce, who eliminated Russian 14th seed Karen Khachanov.

Korda, who had beaten world number one Carlos Alcaraz in the previous round, had a match point late in the second set, but Landaluce survived to set up a quarter-final against Czech 21st seed Jiri Lehecka.

Landaluce, who had failed to register a single win at tour level in 2026 before arriving in Miami, dedicated his latest success to his late grandmother.

“She would have been 101 last week, and she passed away a few months ago. I wanted to give her the victory,” Landaluce said.

Lehecka booked his place in the quarter-finals by ousting sixth seed Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-7(4/7), 6-2 in 2hr 25min.

“I just felt that in the third set, if I wanted to beat a guy like Taylor, I just needed to go for it and be aggressive,” Lehecka said.

American 22nd seed Tommy Paul set up a quarter-final against France’s Arthur Fils after cruising past Argentina’s Tomas Etcheverry 6-1, 6-3.

Fils beat Monaco’s Valentin Vacherot 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 6-4.

Argentina’s 18th-seeded Francisco Cerundolo followed up his upset of Daniil Medvedev on Monday with a comfortable 6-4, 6-3 defeat of French 31st seed Ugo Humbert.

Cerundolo will face Alexander Zverev in the last eight after the German third seed defeated France’s Quentin Halys 7-6(7/4), 7-6(7/1).

MUCHOVA, GAUFF ADVANCE

In the women’s draw, Karolina Muchova needed all of her experience to hold off rising Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko 7-5, 7-6(7/5), booking a place in her first Miami Open semi-final after a match she admitted could have gone either way.

The 29-year-old Czech secured her fifth WTA 1000 semi-final berth in a hard-fought contest that lasted one hour and 47 minutes.

“It was very close, basically one point at the end. It can always change in tennis. I’m just very grateful I was able to win the last point,” Muchova said.

The win extends Muchova’s excellent run, having now reached the fourth round or better at all five tournaments she has played in 2026, including beating Mboko to claim the Doha title in February.

In Thursday’s semi-final, Muchova will face Coco Gauff after the American battled past Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic in three sets to take a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 win.

With the win, world-number-four Gauff reached the semi-finals in Miami for the first time in her career, after failing to make it past the fourth round in her previous six attempts.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2026