Miami, March 25 (IANS) World No. 2 Jannik Sinner beat home hope Alex Michelsen 7-5, 7-6(4) to enter Miami Open quarterfinal, keeping his mission to complete the coveted ‘Sunshine Double’ on track.
The 24-year-old Italian is just the third man to reach the quarterfinals on his first five appearances at the Miami Open, joining Yannick Noah and Stefan Edberg.
Indian Wells champion Sinner rallied from 2-5 in the second set to complete a one-hour, 42-minute triumph and improve his tally of consecutive sets won at Masters 1000 events to a record-extending 28.
“I felt like the serve helped me quite a lot today, especially in important moments and in the tie-break, so I’m happy about that. At the same time, I know that if I want to go far in this tournament, I have to improve from the back of the court.
“Tomorrow is a day off, which helps me and I will try to find good rhythm in the practice session. Then we’ll see how things go,” said Sinner.
“It’s completely different conditions to last night, so I’m happy how I fought. It was very close. A very close match against Alex. He’s a tough opponent, so I’m very happy,” he added.
He has now won his past 28 matches against American opponents dating back to his loss to Ben Shelton in Shanghai in 2023.
Earlier, Martin Landaluce has continued his dream run with another big win as the 20-year-old Spanish qualifier saved one match point in a dramatic 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 win over home favourite Sebastian Korda to reach the quarterfinal.
The World No. 151, who trained at the Rafa Nadal Academy, became the lowest-ranked quarter-finalist at the event since World No. 185 Jim Grabb in 1994. The Spaniard is also the first player born in 2006 or later to advance to the last eight at a Masters 1000 event.
Now up 48 places to No. 103 in the ATP Live Rankings, Landaluce will next face Jiri Lehecka, who upset World No. 7 Taylor Fritz.
–IANS
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