Portugal’s Joao Sousa recorded the fourth Top 10 victory of his career (4-26 lifetime) on Friday for a place in the Miami Open presented by Itau third round. The 29-year-old required 61 minutes to beat Belgium’s David Goffin, currently No. 9 in the ATP Rankings, 6-0, 6-1. “I think I played a great match today," said Sousa. "I was able to play my best tennis from the beginning. For sure, David was not able to play his best tennis today. I know how tough it is coming from an injury that he had a few weeks ago. I'm really happy that I was able to play great tennis. It's not easy to play against these kinds of players. They are...
Less than a month ago, #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe found his big breakthrough, winning his maiden ATP World Tour title at the Delray Beach Open to become the youngest American to claim a trophy since a 19-year-old Andy Roddick did so in 2002. But his next time out, Tiafoe lost in straight sets against compatriot Ernesto Escobedo at Indian Wells. Would Tiafoe bounce back in Miami? A tremendous 29-shot rally to save set point at 5-6 in the second set emphatically answered that question. Tiafoe buckled down when he needed to most, battling to defeat Argentine Nicolas Kicker 6-3, 7-6(4) at the Miami Open presented by Itau Thursday evening to advance to the second round at the tournament for the...
#NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov was made to work hard on Thursday as he made a winning start on his Miami Open presented by Itau debut. The 18-year-old led Viktor Troicki of Serbia 5-1 in the third set and required six match points to wrap up a 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(6) victory in two hours and 27 minutes. He’ll now prepare to meet No. 24 seed Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia & Herzegovina in the second round. Troicki, who reached the fourth round in 2009 and 2011, lost six first-service points in the first two sets, but Shapovalov regained the momentum by winning four games in a row from 1-1 in the decider. The World No. 46 then failed to convert two match...
Portugal’s Joao Sousa, currently No. 80 in the ATP Rankings, scored a confidence-boosting 7-6(4), 7-6(4) victory over American Ryan Harrison in one hour and 47 minutes on Wednesday at the Miami Open presented by Itau. Harrison, this year’s Brisbane International presented by Suncorp finalist (l. to Kyrgios), led 3-0 in the first set and later saved three match points at 4-5 in the second set. Sousa will now face seventh-seeded Belgian David Goffin, who is returning from an eye injury, in the second round. France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert saved four of five break points to hand an early exit to another local, Taylor Fritz, 7-6(4), 6-4 in one hour and 36 minutes for a second-round meeting against second-seeded Croatian Marin Cilic....
Juan Martin del Potro has earned the missing prize in his trophy case. In one of the best matches of the season, the Argentine erased three match points against five-time champion Roger Federer to win his maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title 6-4, 6-7(8), 7-6(2) on Sunday at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Watch Full Match Replays The odds were against the Argentine: Del Potro had lost 18 of 24 FedEx ATP Head2Head matchups against Federer heading into Sunday's final, their first meeting in a Masters 1000 title match. Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic had won 13 of the past 14 Indian Wells titles, dating back to 2004, and Del Potro had lost his three previous...
