Belgium’s David Goffin outlasted second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz of Spain on Friday, pulling out a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 win in the second round of the Miami Open.
Alcaraz finished with a 36-23 edge in winners but more than offset that by committing 42 unforced errors to Goffin’s 26.
“It was a poor level from me,” Alcaraz said. “I just wanted to play better. After the first set, I thought I was going to be better. He played well, he played good tennis. My level didn’t increase. I think his level after the first set increased a little bit.”
Goffin advances to face 31st-seeded Brandon Nakashima of the United States, who edged Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
Jaume Munar committed just 14 unforced errors as he delivered a dominating 6-2, 6-3 upset of seventh-seeded Daniil Medvedev.
Munar won 76.7 percent of his first-serve points and had 18 winners while finishing off the Russian in just 78 minutes. It is the third career Top 10 victory for the Spaniard.
“It means a lot,” Munar said. “I am feeling great after all the work I have put in to have a tournament like this. I feel really comfortable here and I have been playing great this year on hard courts. It got a little bit tight at the end but I am happy with the performance and it means a lot.”
Munar, 27, said he has been mixing up his game and changing strategies.
“I’ve been changing a lot,” Munar said. “I changed techniques, tactics. It has been working very well this year. I think I have to keep improving to keep changing things.”
Medvedev had a whopping 31 errors compared to just 14 winners. He also had four double faults and just one ace.
Munar will next face Frenchman Gael Monfils, who posted a 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (8) victory over No. 26 Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic. Monfils had a 14-8 edge in aces.
Fourth-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia had nine aces while registering a 6-0, 7-6 (1) victory over Rinky Hijikata of Australia.
The victory allowed Djokovic to match Rafael Nadal for the most Masters 1000 victories at 410. Nadal was 410-90 and Djokovic is 410-91.
Djokovic had dropped three straight matches before beating Hijikata. He fell to Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the Australian Open semifinals and lost first-round matches to Italy’s Matteo Berrettini at Doha and Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands at Indian Wells.
Djokovic will next face Argentina lucky loser Camilo Ugo Carabello, who rallied for a 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-3 victory over Alex Michelsen.
No. 5 seed Casper Ruud of Norway had nine aces during a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Miomir Kecmanovic of Croatia. Ruud had a 44-30 edge in winners.
No. 9 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece had a 32-24 edge in winners while rallying for a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Chun-Hsin Tseng of Taiwan. No. 14 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria recorded a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Federico Cina of Italy.
No. 15 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy recovered for a 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5 victory over Quentin Halys of France. No. 18 Felix Auger-Aliassime was a 6-4, 6-4 winner over Australia’s Tristan Schoolkate and No. 22 Karen Khachanov of Russia sailed to a 7-6 (3), 6-0 win over Aussie Nick Kyrgios.
Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo, the 30th seed, rallied past France’s Corentin Moutet 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, and 24th-seeded Sebastian Korda won an all-U.S. matchup against Eliot Spizzirri 6-4, 6-2. The United States’ Tommy Paul, seeded 12th, overtook Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik 5-7, 7-5, 6-4, and 23rd-seeded Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina routed France’s Alexandre Muller 6-1, 6-2.
–Field Level Media
