Two big names were sent packing at the Miami Open presented by Itaú on Friday – Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev.
It was a poor level from me. 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. I didn’t play well, physically I didn’t feel well. When you don’t have the confidence of your level physically, I think it’s really tough to maintain good tennis. Carlos Alcaraz
Alcaraz, the World No 3 from Spain, suffered a shock early exit at the hands of Belgian veteran David Goffin, who fought back for an inspired 5-7 6-4 6-3 win, while another Spaniard, Jaume Munar, got the better of Medvedev, the 7th seed from Russia, 6-2 6-3, at the Hard Rock Stadium.
34-year-old Goffin beat Alcaraz 3 years ago in Astana in their last meeting, and, sensing the Spaniard was far from his best in the opening set, he went on the attack.
Ranked 55, the Belgian, who reached a career high of No 7 in 2017, struck some glorious winners, while Alcaraz was struggling with mounting unforced errors.
Slightly built, Goffin went up by a break in all 3 sets, but, having let Alcaraz recover in the first, he showed poise and calm to stay on top.
“When I came out earlier, just to warm up on the court, I felt ‘I’m moving well. I’m feeling quite relaxed. I’m hitting the ball really well’ and so I hoped it would be the same during the match,” Goffin said later. “I started the match well. I had the break in the first, and he started to play really well at the end of the first.
“It’s that kind of night that I will remember for sure – against Carlos, and in a stadium like that. And the night that gave me a lot of confidence to continue,” he added.
Goffin, who has now notched 3 consecutive wins against Top 3 players, and improved to 2-1 in his head-to-head with Alcaraz, who is 13 years his junior, having previously beat the 21-year-old in Astana in 2022, and World No 3 Alexander Zverev last October in Shanghai.
“It feels amazing. Sometimes some matches are tough, and you have to fight, like the first round, and you’re happy to have a second round like that in a stadium,” said Goffin, who also came from a set down to beat Aleksandar Vukic in his Miami opener. “That’s why I continue to play tennis, to have that kind of match in a stadium, to play some good tennis.
“I was just trying to enjoy the moment…I felt that, physically, I was ready to fight and then I was feeling the ball really well, so it’s the kind of night that you feel great and you’re happy to fight, you enjoy every point and at the end it’s a perfect end with a great match point. It was amazing.”
Goffin will next take on American Brandon Nakashima, ranked 32, on Sunday after the American’s 6-4 4-6 6-3 win against another Spaniard, Roberto Carballes Baena.
Veteran David Goffin of Belgium beat World No 3 Carlos Alcaraz in 3 sets on Day 4 of the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium
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With the defeat, Alcaraz’s hopes of returning to No 2 in the rankings were dashed.
The 2022 Miami champion needed to win this year’s title, and have Zverev exit early in order to pass the German for the World No 2 spot.
Alcaraz is not in danger of losing his position at No 3, though, despite suffering just his 3rd opening defeat at an ATP Masters 1000.
The Spaniard made no excuses for Friday’s defeat, in a characteristically blunt self-assessment.
“It was a poor level from me,” Alcaraz admitted after suffering his first loss this season to a player outside the Top 30. “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.
“I didn’t play well, physically I didn’t feel well. When you don’t have the confidence of your level physically, I think it’s really tough to maintain good tennis.
“I didn’t feel well in my legs. I wasn’t injured, I wasn’t sick. I was feeling perfectly before the match.”
Alcaraz later said his legs had began to tire at the end of the second set.
“I felt good, a little bit nervous, which is normal before the match,” he said. “But nothing more than that. I just felt ready, I thought that I was going to play really good tennis. It didn’t happen.”
Jaume Munar upset 7th-seeded Daniil Medvedev in straight sets to advance to round 3 on Friday
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Daniil Medvedev also headed home early, after suffering a straight sets loss to Munar, the 56th-ranked player in the world.
Medvedev, the 2023 Miami champion, let his frustration rip by hurling his racket on several occasions as the 27-year-old, Mallorca-born Munar picked up his 3rd career win over a Top 10 opponent.
“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.”
“I’ve been changing a lot,” he added, when asked about his game. “I changed techniques, tactics.
“It has been working very well this year. I think I have to keep improving to keep changing things. To look where my game can improve and I think me and my team are doing very well.”
Medvedev made 32 unforced errors, and although he gave himself a chance of a comeback in the final game, he couldn’t convert on 2 break points.
He later confirmed he had a problem with his lower back, but added that it was no excuse as he gave credit to Munar.
“Yeah, I was not 100% physically, but I tried my best to get into the match,” he said. “Every day was better and better. I had some problems after Indian Wells. Can happen.
“He played well, so that’s why [he won]. I wouldn’t go to the match if I would, kind of, definitely know I’m not ready to win,” he added.
Munar will next face Gael Monfils after the Frenchman saved a match point en route to beating Jiri Lehecka, the No 26 seed from Czechia, 6-1 3-6 7-6(8).
38-year old Monfils earned a 1st-round win against Fabian Marozsan to become the second-oldest player in history to win a match in Miami, and he backed that up by overcoming Lehecka in 2 hours and 8 minutes.
Monfils struck 38 winners to 22 unforced errors, and won 80% of his first-serve points.
Sebastian Korda, the No 24 seed, will face World No 10 Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday in Miami
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Elsewhere, Stefanos Tsitsipas was also in trouble on Day 3, but, unlike Medvedev, survived to reach the 3rd round.
The 9th seed from Greece rallied from a set and a break down to move past Chinese Taipei qualifier Chun-Hsin Tseng, 4-6 7-5 6-3.
Tsitsipas lifted the trophy in Dubai last month, and then advanced to the 4th-round in Indian Wells.
The 26-year-old’s best result in Miami came in 2021, when he advanced to the quarter-finals.
Aiming to improve on that record, the World No 10 next plays Sebastian Korda, who dispatched American wild-card Eliot Spizzirri, 6-4 6-2.
4th-seeded Novak Djokovic saw off Rinky Hijikata to reach the Last 32 at the Miami Open
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Novak Djokovic, seed 4th here, powered to a straight sets win over Australian Rinky Hijikata, 6-0 7-6(1).
While Hijikata found his range in the second set, highlighted by an epic scramble in the tiebreak to hit a winner past Djokovic, the former World No 1 reacted in clinical style, reeling off the following 6 points to seal an 80-minute win, and improving their head-to-head record to 2-0.
Ranked 86, Hijikata was aiming to score the biggest win of his career, but was unable to convert either of the 2 break points he created in the match.
“I was playing really well, at a very high level from the beginning,” said Djokovic later, who improved his record to 45-7 in Miami. “I knew exactly what I wanted to do, tactically.
“I played him in the first match of the season in Brisbane. So I think it was good to do some homework, look at those videos.”
The Serbian, who lost his first match in Indian Wells to a lucky loser, was in no mood for another disappointment as he beat the Aussie to snap his 3-match losing streak.
Djokovic, who has won a record 40 titles at Masters 1000 level, has now equalled Rafael Nadal for the most match wins, with 410, since the series’ introduction in 1990.
The 99-time tour-level titlist is bidding to move clear of Andre Agassi, who has 6, for the most titles in Miami tournament history.
In the 3rd-round, Djokovic will face lucky loser Argentine Camilo Ugo Carabelli, who rallied past fast-rising American Alex Michelsen, 6-7(3) 7-5 6-3.
Elsewhere, Karen Khachanov, the 22nd-seeded Russian, ended Nick Kyrgios’s comeback with a 7-6(3) 6-0 win.
The Australian, who has struggled after wrist surgery that kept him off the tour for 18 months, defeated American Mackenzie McDonald in the 1st-round to earn his first tour-level win since October 2022, but he was unable to overcome Khachanov, who reached the semis in Miami in 2023.
