Khachanov had to dig deep to register a fantastic 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 win over the Greek, who failed to get into his stride against the Russian.
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One of the biggest shocks of the 2023 Miami Open took place on Tuesday as 14th seed Karen Khachanov defeated one of the tournament favourites in Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets. Khachanov had to dig deep to register a fantastic 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 win over the Greek, who failed to get into his stride against the Russian. The 25-year-old smashed two aces and returned one out of two break points to win the match. His win percentages on the first and second serves were 91% and 50% respectively. Tsitsipas could not return a single break point and recorded win percentages of 80% and 64% on his serves.
Ever since he lost the final of the Australian Open to Novak Djokovic, Tsitsipas has not quite been himself on the court. The Greek tennis player was eliminated in the second round of the Rotterdam Open by Jannik Sinner in February. He also suffered horrendous loss to Jordan Thompson at the Indian Wells Masters in the very first round. It will be interesting to see how he bounces back from these slew of poor results as the clay season nears.
For Karen Khachanov, it was a day to remember. The Russian has made it into the last eight of the Miami Open after beating his Greek counterpart. Khachanov beat Jiri Lehecka in the third round 6-2, 6-4, and he also ousted Tomas Martin Etchevrry in the second round 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. It has been a while since the 25-year-old has won a major trophy and the Miami crown would be a perfect stage to break that dry spell.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to Tsitsipas’ shock loss:
Elena Ryabkina won her 12th straight match qualify for the semi-finals of the 2023 Miami Open on Tuesday. The reigning Wimbledon champion beat Martina Trevisan 6-3, 6-0 in an utterly one-sided match. The Kazakh tennis player scored 10 aces and returned five out of nine break points in the match. She also recorded win percentages of 68% and 58% in the tie.
Rybakina, who was also the champion at Indian Wells earlier this month, is well on her way to become the fifth woman to complete the sunshine double. Her record this season is 20-4, which is an incredible feat.
In order to get through the opening stages of her Miami campaign, Rybakina needed back-to-back three-set victories, including a victory over Paula Badosa in the third round that required saving a match point. Rybakina has developed a consistent rhythm since that time, defeating Elise Mertens 6-4, 6-3 in the Round of 16 and cruising past Trevisan in the quarterfinals.
Rybakina will face either World No.3 Jessica Pegula or Anastasia Potapova in the semifinals on Thursday. She defeated Aryna Sabalenka earlier this month to win the Indian Wells final and could face the Belarusian in the final of Miami yet again.
