Defending champion Jakub Mensik and former finalist Daniil Medvedev were both knocked out of the Miami Open in dramatic third-round matches on Monday.
DEFENDING champion Jakub Mensik was eliminated in a gruelling third-round battle. The 20-year-old Czech lost 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 7-6 (13/11) to American 19th seed Frances Tiafoe in a match lasting two hours and 55 minutes.
The contest was decided by a marathon third-set tiebreak. Mensik saved six match points before finally succumbing when a return drifted wide on Tiafoe’s seventh opportunity.
Tiafoe himself saved two match points in the dramatic finale. He will face France’s Terence Atmane in the last 16.
Atmane powered into the fourth round with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 upset of Canadian seventh seed Felix Auger-Aliassime. Auger-Aliassime joined a growing list of early casualties.
Former finalist Daniil Medvedev was also shown the door earlier on Monday. The Indian Wells runner-up fell 6-0, 4-6, 7-5 to Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo.
Medvedev looked headed for a swift exit after Cerundolo raced through the first set in just over 20 minutes. He rallied to level the match but was broken at 5-6 in the decider, double-faulting on match point.
“It was a great match, super tough,” Cerundolo said. “I didn’t know what to expect. He has had a great year so far, so I didn’t expect to be up 6-0 in the first set.”
Medvedev’s exit followed the earlier departures of world number one Carlos Alcaraz and Australian fifth seed Alex De Minaur. Eighth seed Ben Shelton also lost earlier in the tournament.
In other men’s action, 31st seed Ugo Humbert of France advanced. He beat Kazakhstan’s Alexander Shevchenko 6-4, 7-6 (7/2).
In the women’s draw, American fourth seed Coco Gauff survived a scare to reach the quarter-finals. She overcame veteran Romanian Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in two hours and three minutes.
Gauff regrouped impressively after losing five straight games in the second set. She raced to a 3-0 lead in the decider before a medical timeout for a spectator briefly halted play.
“As the match got longer I was able to raise my level,” Gauff said. She will face either sixth seed Amanda Anisimova or 12th seed Belinda Bencic next.
Czech 13th seed Karolina Muchova strolled into the last eight with a 6-0, 6-2 rout of Alexandra Eala. Unseeded American Hailey Baptiste also progressed, dispatching 25th seed Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-4.
Baptiste unleashed 11 aces on her way to victory. She will next face either world number one Aryna Sabalenka or China’s Zheng Qinwen.