Stefanos Tsitsipas battles past Cristian Garin at Miami Open
- Oscar Sanders
- 28 March 2023
World number three Stefanos Tsitsipas finally got his Miami Open campaign up and running on Monday as he battled past Chilean qualifier Cristian Garin to book his place in the fourth round.
The Greek - recovering from a shoulder problem and after suffering a shock early exit at Indian Wells -was given a first-round bye before Richard Gasquet was forced to withdraw through injury.
Tsitsipas, though, showed plenty of resilience as he dug deep to end the run of Garin with a 6-3 4-6 6-4 win in just over two hours.
"I was waiting for a very long time to get out and play," Tsitsipas said. "It has almost felt like a vacation this past week, staying in Miami.
"It was a difficult match. I am happy with the way things turned around and my confidence towards the end."
Tsitsipas added on the ATP Tour website: "It has been a difficult road to healing in the past few weeks, but I am happy that things are getting better."
Next up for Tsitsipas will be a repeat of his Australian Open semi-final against Karen Khachanov after the 14th seed defeated 21-year-old Czech Jiri Lehecka 6-2 6-4.
Fifth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime crashed out as he was beaten in straight sets, 6-2 7-5, by Francisco Cerundolo.
The Argentine world number 31, who reached the semi-finals in Miami last year, said in his courtside interview broadcast on Prime Video: "Getting another top-10 win here, I am super happy.
"I am playing as well as I did last year, so am happy to keep going."
Elsewhere, Quentin Halys ended the hopes of American Mackenzie McDonald as he progressed with a 7-6 6-3 win.
The Frenchman goes on to play Daniil Medvedev for a place in the last eight after the Russian saw his scheduled opponent Alex Molcan pull out because of a hip injury.
American Christopher Eubanks continued his stunning run with the world number 119 progressing to the fourth round by beating Frenchman Gregoire Barrere 6-3 7-6.
Eubanks served 12 aces in the match and won 89% of points on his second serve as he moves on to face another Frenchman, Adrian Mannarino.
Mannarino beat eighth seed and 2021 Miami Open champion Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 7-6.
Despite Hurkacz hitting 20 aces throughout the two-hour match, the 26-year-old did not win a point in the second-set tiebreak.
American Frances Tiafoe could not make the most of his hometown advantage against Italian Lorenzo Sonego, going down 6-3 6-4 in just over 70 minutes.
Sonego continued his good form after beating former US Open winner Dominic Thiem and British number two Dan Evans.
The 59th-ranked Sonego will play Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina in the fourth round.
