Carlos Alcaraz of Spain reacts after profitable the primary set towards Tommy Paul throughout the Miami Open tennis event, Tuesday, March 28, 2023, in Miami Gardens, Fla.| Photo Credit: AP

World primary Carlos Alcaraz charged into the quarter-finals of the ATP Miami Open with a convincing 6-4, 6-4 victory over Tommy Paul on Tuesday however second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was knocked out by Russian Karen Khachanov.

Alcaraz, the defending Miami champion and in addition the winner at Indian Wells earlier this month, will face one other American within the final eight when he comes up towards Taylor Fritz.

Paul got here into the match having gained his final 12 encounters with Spanish gamers, together with wins over Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal final 12 months, however he was unable to get a foothold within the contest.

It was the ninth straight victory for the 19-year-old Spaniard, who delighted a supportive South Florida crowd together with his highly effective strokes from the baseline and readiness to maneuver ahead, as soon as once more making use of his more and more efficient drop shot.

“I moved well and defended well and I counter-attacked and I think if I play at that same level I will have a lot of chances to get through,” mentioned Alcaraz.

“I feel at home here. It is easy to play here in Miami with all the energy I receive every day.”

Tsitsipas needed to wait per week for his first contest in Miami, beating Chilean Cristian Garin on Monday, however he got here unstuck towards Khachanov, dropping 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.

The Greek has been troubled by a shoulder damage in latest weeks however Khachanov ended his six match dropping streak towards Tsitsipas and 23 match barren spell towards high ten opponents.

His serve was dependable all through and broke Tsitsipas’ serve to like within the fifth recreation of the second set and stored his cool to see out the win.

“Both of us were serving pretty well in the first set... Then I took it to the tie-break, and in the second set as soon as the opportunity came, I had to take it,” he mentioned.

In a conflict of top-10 gamers, American Fritz defeated Denmark’s Holger Rune 6-3, 6-4 to succeed in to the final eight in Miami for the primary time in his profession.

Fritz, who gained at Delray Beach final month, beat Emilio Nava and Denis Shapovalov in straight units earlier than Tuesday’s encounter and he was happy with the way in which he was in a position to go on the assault.

“I couldn’t play aggressively in my first two matches because my opponents were hitting every ball as hard as they could. (Rune) still crushes the ball but it was nice to feel I had some more time,” Fritz mentioned.

“The first two rounds, it was impossible to play my game, I just had to make balls. Today when I got the chance to be aggressive I was and I just wanted to serve well and try not to give him many free points.”

Eubanks ousts Mannarino

Fritz will likely be joined within the quarter-finals by compatriot Christopher Eubanks who claimed one other scalp by beating France’s Adrian Mannarino 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/5).

The recreation was delayed by rain for round 4 hours with Eubanks, ranked 119th on the earth, 4-2 up within the first set and after play resumed Mannarino was in a position to power a tie-break earlier than dropping out to the big-serving American.

There was nothing to separate the pair within the second set however as soon as once more Eubanks triumphed within the tie-breaker to succeed in a Masters 1000 quarter-finals for the primary time in his profession.

Having come via the qualifiers in Miami, the 26-year-old Eubanks has gained six straight recreation and can enter the highest 100 on the earth rankings for the primary time.

Eubanks now faces world quantity 5 Daniil Medvedev after the Russian comfortably handled French qualifier Quentin Halys 6-4, 6-2 in a match which began after midnight following a four-hour rain delay.

Italian Jannik Sinner additionally superior to the final eight with out dropping a set and he was in agency management from the outset towards Russian sixth seed Andrey Rublev, profitable 6-2, 6-4.

Sinner, who has by no means failed to succeed in the quarters in his three appearances in Miami, will face Emil Ruusuvuori after the Finn beat Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.