Jannik Sinner and Taylor Fritz were bossy to sweep Andrey Rublev and Holger Rune to the quarter-finals in Miami, with Elena Rybakina paving the way to the women’s semi-finals on Tuesday.
As a regular, the 21-year-old Italian (11th in the world), finalist of the event in 2021, has reached this stage for the third year in a row. On his way, the Russian (7th) was not a big obstacle, since he dismissed him 6-2, 6-4 while spending 1h12 on the court.
“Today I felt good and I executed my game plan very well. I had to take the opportunities he was going to give me and I did it,” said Sinner, who now leads 3 -2 in their confrontations.
He went it alone in the first set, more sharp and precise, without leaving the slightest opportunity to break his opponent.
Rublev, 25, did not have a single one either in the second round, because the Italian, winner in Montpellier in February and semi-finalist ten days ago in Indian Wells, remained intractable, always so inspired and determined, ending his match with 29 winners and only two unforced errors.
An almost perfect score which sends a strong message to the competition, starting with his next opponent, the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori (54th).
Fritz (10th) was also very solid to dispose of Rune 6-3, 6-4 and reach the quarter-finals in Miami for the first time.
The 25-year-old American, who remains on a title gleaned in Florida, in Delray Beach in February, was very realistic in the key moments, since he erased five of the six break points that the Dane obtained. 18, revealed last year by his surprise triumph at Bercy. And he converted three of the four opportunities to rob him of the service game.
-Rybakina sans trembler-
“In my first two rounds, my opponents (Emilio Nava and Denis Shapovalov, editor’s note) were hitting all the balls as hard as they could. It was impossible for me to play my game, I just had to make balls. Today today, when I had the opportunity to be aggressive, I was and I just wanted to serve well and try not to give him a lot of free points,” Fritz said.
He could have much more to do in the next round, against the world No.1 and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz. Unless the American Tommy Paul (19th) creates a sensation by taking out the Spaniard in the afternoon (Miami time).
On the day’s program, there are all the other 1/8 finals for men, including that of Russian Daniil Medvedev (5th), another fit man on the circuit, against Frenchman Quentin Halys (79th).
Among the women, Elena Rybakina (7th) crushed 6-3, 6-0 the Italian Martina Trevisan (24th), to reach the last four of the event for the first time.
The 23-year-old Kazakh, who is now on twelve consecutive victories, never flinched against an opponent she was meeting for the first time, recording a rise in power after a delicate start to the tournament. She had to erase a match point in the 3rd round, before knocking down the Spaniard Paula Badosa.
The 2022 Wimbledon champion and runner-up in Melbourne in January relied in particular on her excellent serve, her 10 aces now making 201 since the start of the year, the best total on the circuit.
In search of a “Sunshine Double” (doubled Indian Wells / Miami) that only three players have succeeded in the same year – Steffi Graf twice, Kim Clijsters and Victoria Azarenka -, she will then be opposed to the American Jessica Pegula (3rd ) or the Russian Anastasia Potapova (26th).