Alexandrova stuns Swiatek in Miami Open fourth round
Iga Swiatek’s hopes of landing another “Sunshine Double” ended in a 6-4 6-2 fourth-round loss to Ekaterina Alexandrova on Monday as the world number one joined third seed Coco Gauff in making an early exit from the Miami Open.
Swiatek, who won the first leg of the Sunshine Double at Indian Wells earlier this month, was completely outplayed by the Russian world number 16, who claimed the biggest win of her career.
“I just went out on the court and did my best, I think it went quite well,” Alexandrova said.
Top seed Swiatek, who captured the Sunshine Double in 2022, never broke Alexandrova’s serve and had no answer to her powerful and precise groundstrokes under the lights in South Florida.
Alexandrova, seeded 14th, will next face fifth seed Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals after she overcame fellow American Emma Navarro 7-6(1) 6-3.
Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia’s serve was clicking early in her battle against Gauff and she never faced a break point in the opening set before the American raised her level to even the affair at a set apiece.
In the first game of the deciding set, Garcia fended off four break points to hold serve and broke at love to take a 2-0 lead she would not relinquish against her 20-year-old opponent.
Next up for Garcia is American Danielle Collins, who beat Sorana Cirstea 6-3 6-2.
Fourth seed Elena Rybakina powered past Florida resident Madison Keys 6-3 7-5 and will next meet a well-rested Maria Sakkari after the Greek eighth seed got a walkover into the quarterfinals.
Rybakina was more efficient than Keys, winning just more than 80% of her first-serve points and converting three of her eight break points during the 84-minute encounter.
In other early women’s matches, Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva beat Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina, the 32nd seed, 6-4 7-6(5).
Sakkari was set to play in the day’s opening match on the Grandstand court but advanced without hitting a ball as Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya withdrew ahead of their fourth-round match due to health issues.
Kalinskaya, the 22nd seed, arrived in Miami after a thirdround defeat at Indian Wells, where a stomach ailment forced her to miss a few days of practice.
The 25-year-old Kalinskaya reached the round of 16 in Miami without dropping a set in wins over China’s Wang Xiyu and Latvian ninth seed Jelena Ostapenko.
Rybakina owns a 2-1 record in head-to-head meetings with Sakkari, who lost to Swiatek in the Indian Wells final.
Top seed Carlos Alcaraz dominated Gael Monfils 6-2 6-4 and fourth seed Alexander Zverev escaped a tight first set en route to a 7-6(4) 6-3 win over Christopher Eubanks to reach the Miami Open last 16 on Monday.
Alcaraz is on a quest to capture the “Sunshine Double” after his triumph at Indian Wells and the 20-year-old was never really threatened in a matchup of two of the game’s most entertaining players.
Alcaraz was last night set to face Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti, who had beaten Ben Shelton of the US 6-4 7-6(5). Awaiting Zverev in the last 16 will be 15th seed Karen Khachanov, who secured a 6-1 5-7 7-6(5) win over 20th seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina.
Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, Australia’s Alex de Minaur and Hungarian Fabian Marozsan also all advanced.