On the night of March 23-24, Moscow time, another competitive day ended at the supertournament in Miami (USA). Rain once again interfered with the schedule, causing the games to start several hours later than planned. But almost all matches with the participation of Russian tennis players could be held. Daria Kasatkina and Anastasia Potapova were the first to end their fights; read more about this in a separate article.
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Kasatkina defeated the American in Miami. Daria achieved her first victory in the tournament in 5 years.
World No. 4 Daniil Medvedev, seeded No. 3, played ATP ranking No. 86 Marton Fucsovics. Before this, the Hungarian tennis player had beaten Medvedev only once, and already on clay, at Roland Garros 2020. Today, Daniil achieved his fourth victory in head-to-head confrontations with him.
Medvedev immediately began serving and Fucsovics did not get a single break point in the first set. Furthermore, the Hungarian failed in the fifth game when the Russian was able to break to love. In the end, Daniil took the game 6-4. Medvedev started the second set with a break, and in the second game he confirmed it, despite three double faults. The next two matches also remained in the hands of the Russian, shortly after which he calmly won: 6: 4, 6: 2 in 1 hour and 20 minutes.
“Yesterday was the most difficult day because I was 99 percent sure that I wouldn’t play because of the rain and I would have liked to stay at the hotel. I’m ready to play at any time. I like to play. It was a difficult match for both of us to win and I knew I had to stay calm… The first match is always the most difficult. I hope this is just the beginning,” Medvedev is quoted as saying by the ATP press service.
In the third round, Daniil will face the British Cameron Norrie (30).
Karen Khachanov (15) played with her “client” Laszlo Djere, the number 35 racket player in the world. Khachanov won the three previous matches against Djere and today achieved his fourth victory. In all these fights, Karen did not lose a single set.
In today’s matchup, Khachanov took the first game with more confidence. In four games he lost only one point and, after two breaks, won the set 6-2. In the second game, Djere managed to force the fight from his opponent. Halfway through the set the players exchanged breaks for 2:2. Then Karen took her game in stride and on reception missed five break points (4:4). In the ninth game, the Russian decided at all costs to take the other’s serve, and from the eighth break point he achieved his goal. After that he calmly served for the match: 6:2, 6:4 in 1 hour 27 minutes.
In the third round, Khachanov will play against Francisco Cerundolo (Argentina, 20 years old).
20-year-old Maria Timofeeva, who reached the base through qualification, took to the field with 19-year-old Czech Linda Noskova (26). In the first set, Timofeeva, ranked 99th in the WTA rankings, had a great opportunity to lead with a break, but in the fourth game she missed a triple break point (2-2). Noskova took her opponent’s serve in the ninth game, after which she, after playing a break point, served for the set 6:4.
In the second game, the Czech tennis player achieved the break already in the fifth game, in the ninth she missed a triple match point on reception, but in the tenth she served to zero for the match: 6:4, 6:4. in 1 hour 22 minutes.
Elina Avanesyan, 21, ranked 65th in the world, sensationally defeated the sixth-ranked player in the world, Ons Jabeur. In the first set, Avanesyan left no chance for Jabeur and never allowed him to face break points. The Russian took her opponent’s serve twice and won the game 6:1. In the second set, the Tunisian came back. She led 3-1 with a one-break lead, held serve for some time, did not serve for the set in the ninth game, but won it in the tenth, taking advantage of the first set point, 6-4.
Despite this, Avanesyan came back stronger in the third game. Elina led 5:1 with two breaks, at 5:2 she could not serve for the match, but in the next game she achieved victory, taking advantage of the second match point in the reception: 6:1, 4:6, 6:3 . in 1 hour 55 minutes.
In the third round, Avanesyan will face the finalist of the Australian Open 2022, the world’s 53rd racket player, Danielle Collins, who eliminated Anastasia Potapova.
Anna Kalinskaya (22) played with 2017 Roland Garros champion, world number 10 Elena Ostapenko (9). Unlike the previous matches, this was not a second round match, but a third round match. Kalinska is clearly comfortable playing with Ostapenko. In the previous two matches, the Russian defeated the Latvian twice without dropping a set, including at Dubai 2024. History repeated itself this time.
In the first set, Ostapenko immediately took the lead with a break, but subsequently failed to win a single game on serve. Kalinskaya also did not have the best performance in his games, but with 5: 3 she still served for the game: 6: 3. And in the second set, the Russian left no chance for her rival. Anna took Elena’s serve twice and in the seventh game she served for the match: 6:3, 6:1 in 1 hour and 9 minutes.
In the fourth round, Kalinskaya will play the Greek Maria Sakkari (8).
Finally, the world number two, Aryna Sabalenka, also played the third round match. Her opponent was Ukrainian Angelina Kalinina (32). In the first set, Sabalenka led 2-0 with a break, but lost the lead 2-2. Then the tennis players exchanged breaks, and in the ninth game Kalinina again took someone else’s serve, after which she served for the game from the third set point: 6: 4.
In the second set, Sabalenka took revenge. The Belarusian won the first five games out of six, and in the seventh, after overcoming a break point, she served to win the game 6:1. In the deciding set, Arina’s serve went wrong. She didn’t take any of her games and committed four double faults. Angelina suffered a breakdown only once, losing her game to zero. And in the seventh game she converted the first match point: 6: 4, 1: 6, 6: 1 in 2 hours and 3 minutes.
And the match between Roman Safiullin and the Italian Lorenzo Musetti (23) was postponed to Sunday, March 24. Follow all the events of the Miami super tournament in the “Championship”.
