Top seed Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev booked their spots in the Miami Open semi-finals with wins over American opponents on Thursday, while Elena Rybakina saw off world number three Jessica Pegula to reach the women’s final.
Taylor Fritz showed great fight but was unable to match Alcaraz’s level, the defending champion taking control with an instant break of serve in each set on the way to a 6-4 6-2 win.
In a high-quality clash between two players who reached the quarter-final without dropping a set, world number one Alcaraz never trailed and frustrated ninth seed Fritz with a potent mix of power, sublime shotmaking and relentless hustle.
“A little bit of nerves at the beginning of the match, it was new for me playing against him, never played him before,” Alcaraz, 19, said after the match, which was originally scheduled for Wednesday but postponed due to rain.
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“Of course I am really happy with the way that I started the match with no mistakes and with a lot of power. It was a key for me to break the serve at the beginning.”
If Alcaraz lifts the title in Miami he would become the eighth man to win the Indian Wells and Miami tournaments back-to-back, a feat known as the ‘Sunshine Double’ given their locations in California and Florida.
Alcaraz next plays 10th seed Jannik Sinner, whom the Spaniard beat in the Indian Wells semi-finals to improve to 3-2 in head-to-head meetings with the Italian.
