Miami, March 27 (IANS) World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain continued his ‘Sunshine Double’ quest on track, beating Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic 6-0, 7-6(5) to advance to the fourth round of the Miami Open.
In a high-quality performance the Spaniard, who hit 27 winners to Lajovic’s eight, recovered from failing to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set against Lajovic, recomposing himself to seal his eighth consecutive straight-sets win on his fourth match point in one hour and 31 minutes on Sunday.
The 19-year-old needs to lift his fourth ATP Masters 1000 trophy in Miami to prevent Novak Djokovic from replacing him as No. 1 in the ATP Rankings. Alcaraz will become the youngest man to win the coveted ‘Sunshine Double’ with another title run in Miami. Roger Federer was the last man to win the ‘Sunshine Double’ in 2017.
The Spaniard will next play World no 19 Tommy Paul. The American has a 1-0 head-to-head lead against Alcaraz, having won in the Canada Masters 1000 6-7(4), 7-6(7), 6-3.
Paul reached the fourth round in Miami for the first time with a 6-3, 7-5 victory against Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
–IANS
bc/cs
