Goffin stuns Alcaraz as Djokovic makes winning rreturn

Gulf Today

23-03-2025

Carlos Alcaraz fell 5-7 6-4 6-3 to Belgian David Goffin in the Miami Open second round on Friday while Novak Djokovic tied Rafa Nadal for most ATP Masters 1000 match wins and Russia's Mirra Andreeva took another step toward a 'Sunshine Double'.
Goffin led the second seed by a break in each of the three sets and secured the victory on his second match point when a sliding Alcaraz was unable to retrieve a forehand the Belgian ripped into the corner.
Up next for Goffin is Brandon Nakashima, a 6-4 4-6 6-3 winner over Roberto Carballes Baena.
Six-times champion Djokovic made his long-awaited Miami Open return and defeated Australian Rinky Hijikata 6-0 7-6(1) to reach the third round.
It marked Djokovic's first Miami appearance since 2019 and the Serbian fourth seed's victory was his 410th ATP Masters 1000 match win, tying him with Rafa Nadal atop the all-time list.
It was all one-way traffic in the opening set as Djokovic showcased his superior shotmaking from the baseline along with a lethal service game to make a perfect start and needed just 27 minutes to wrap up the opening set.
But Hijikata refused to back down and his confidence grew during a tightly-contested second set where neither player could manage a break but Djokovic took over in the tiebreak where he won the final six points.
Russian seventh seed Daniil Medvedev, the 2023 Miami champion who arrived this year fresh off a run to the Indian Wells semi-finals, crashed out at the first hurdle as he fell 6-2 6-3 to Spaniard Jaume Munar.
Former Miami finalists Casper Ruud and Grigor Dimitrov both advanced while Australian Kyrgios, who this week earned his first win since 2022, fell 7-6(3) 6-0 to Karen Khachanov.
On the women's side, Andreeva, making her Miami Open debut fresh off winning the first leg of the Sunshine Double at Indian Wells, was a 6-0 6-2 winner over Veronika Kudermetova and will next face Doha champion Amanda Anisimova.
Polish second seed Iga Swiatek beat Caroline Garcia for the second time in as many tournaments with a 6-2 7-5 victory that sets up a third-round clash with Belgian Elise Mertens, a 6-4 6-1 winner over American Peyton Stearns.
Australian Open champion Madison Keys advanced with a 6-3 6-3 win over Armenia's Elina Avanesyan to set up a third round clash with Filipino wildcard Alexandra Eala, who beat Latvian 25th seed Jelena Ostapenko 7-6(2) 7-5.
Meanwhile Britain's Emma Raducanu won an epic battle over eighth-seeded American Emma Navarro at the Miami Open on Friday and said the win meant even more than some of her victories in her famous run to the 2021 US Open title.
The 21-year-old, who became an instant sensation when she won at Flushing Meadows has had plenty of ups and downs in her career since but in a marathon two-hour 53-minute contest she answered any doubts about her grit with a 7-6 (8/6), 2-6, 7-6 (7-3) win.
"Today I completely left everything on the court. I think there were moments in the third set I thought I was completely down, completely out. I didn't see a way back from it, to be honest, physically," she said.
"But then I managed to, I don't know where, find a source of energy from and I think I was running on adrenaline...I'm really proud of how I fought," she added.
In the third set, Raducanu was broken for 5-4 and then broke back against Navarro, who was serving out at 6-5, she was able to find an extra push to win the tie-break.
Raducanu is now down at 60th in the world after spells of injury and disappointing results but she said the feeling compared, in some ways, to her US Open victory.
"It was a lot of emotions when I won. I know I won the US Open, but I think having been through so much in the last few years, it's like the wins now mean so much more," she said.
"Not necessarily more in terms of magnitude, but I would say emotionally, just a lot more aware of all of the suffering as well, because, you know, when I won the US Open, I just won 10 matches in straight sets. I didn't have, like, the losses, the downs, the months of, like, losing streaks.
"To come out of it now, I'd say it means a lot more than certain matches at the US Open, yeah," she said.
At times she has appeared to struggle with the high expectations that her maiden Grand Slam title brought while there have been a series of short-lived coaching changes.
Her life took a more sinister turn in February when she was targeted by a stalker in Dubai.
The man was escorted away by security, subsequently given a restraining order and banned from attending WTA Tour events.
Indian Wells was her first tournament back after that ordeal and she went out in the first round to Japan's Moyuka Uchijima.
"I don't think it's been an easy couple of months. I have had a lot going on -- on and off the court," she said.
"I think my goal is to just get to a place where I feel a lot more set and stable with my surroundings. This week I have amazing people who have known me for a very long time. I feel very secure and happy and wanting to fight for them, as well," she said.
In her Miami opener she beat another Japanese player in wildcard Sayaka Ishii and after battling her way past Navarro she will be up against American McCartney Kessler on Sunday.
Raducanu said she is glad for the day's rest and may use it to practice the American football skills that she is now using in her warm-ups.
"I have been learning how to throw an American football pretty well this week. My trainer has been teaching me, he's lived in America and knows how to throw it really well. I have just been working on tightening the spiral a little bit," she said with a laugh.
Agencies