Big hitters Medvedev and Barty survive the heat to win in Miami

TOP seed Daniil Medvedev survived the heat and humidity to reach the final eight at the Miami Open with a straight sets victory over American Frances Tiafoe.

Two days earlier the Russian was almost forced off the court with cramps, but on Tuesday he took just 90 minutes to defeat the wild card 6-4 6-3.

Tiafoe, a quarter-finalist at the tournament in 2019, struggled in the soaring mid-afternoon heat and had no answer for Medvedev’s 24 winners.

The American’s countryman Sebastian Korda pulled off the biggest upset of his career against fifth seed Diego Schwartzman, who fell 6-3 4-6 7-5.

The 20-year-old

will next face

Andrey Rublev after the Russian easily accounted for Croatia’s Marin Cilic 6-4 6-4.

Second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Lorenzo Sonego 6-2 7-6 (2) to set up a clash with Hubert Hurkacz, with the Pole overcoming a slow start to collect his second Canadian scalp in two days with a 4-6 6-3 7-6 (4) victory over Milos Raonic.

Earlier, Jannik Sinner and Alexander Bublik both reached their first Masters 1000 quarter-finals.

Italian teenager Sinner, who has raced up the rankings in recent months, eased to a 6-3 6-2 victory over fellow young gun Emil Ruusuvuori.

Bublik was known more for his trick shots and underarm serves than any consistent form but the Kazakh has been steadily rising and he recovered from a set down to beat Taylor Fritz 6-7 (5) 6-3 6-4.

Fritz will become the top-ranked American next Monday despite his defeat after John Isner lost to Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut.

Isner was unable to take a match point in the deciding tie-break as seventh seed Bautista Agut claimed a 6-3 4-6 7-6 (7) victory and set up an encounter with Medvedev.

World number one Ashleigh Barty moved into the semi-finals of the Miami Open with a hard-fought victory over Aryna Sabalenka.

Barty, who won the title the last time the event was played in 2019, rode something of a rollercoaster against her big-hitting opponent in a 6-4 6-7 (5) 6-3 win.

The first set was very tight until Sabalenka played a poor service game at 4-4.

Barty saved seven break points across the first two sets and looked poised for victory when she moved 5-4 ahead in the second-set tiebreak, with a mini-break, only for Sabalenka to win three points in a row.

It was all to play for when they kicked off the deciding set but Sabalenka began to feel an abdominal problem midway through the set and Barty pulled away to win.

The victory also guaranteed that Barty would remain on top of the rankings ahead of Naomi Osaka at the end of the tournament.