Miami Open 2024 Day 6 Recap

The Miami draw finally seems to be moving on. The last sixteen lineup is set after Carlos Alcaraz and Sascha Zverev progressed from Monday’s round of 32 matches.

Alcaraz is on a quest to capture the Sunshine Double, and he’s looking bang in form. He dispatched Gael Monfils with ease, while Zverev, the fourth seed, had a trickier time against Eubanks.

All the day’s matches went according to their seeding, apart from Musetti, seeded 28th, who took out 16th Shelton in the night session in an entertaining game where their playstyles contrasted nicely.

Aside from the on-court action, Andy Murray revealed that he’d suffered a complete rupture of his anterior talofibular ligament and a near total rupture of calcaneofibular ligament when he went over on his ankle against Tomas Machac. That means an extended period on the sidelines and throwing a spanner into the works regarding his summer retirement plan.

You can see the results from day six below and select highlights.

Day Six 2024 Miami Open Round of 32 Results

Zverev Eliminates Eubanks

Only a miracle match-point save against Dan Evans kept Chris Eubanks in the tournament. While he came out swinging, his Miami trip ended after a 7-6(4), 6-3 loss to Sascha Zverev.

The first set was relatively hard work for the Germans, and he had to recover from 3-5 down before snatching the tiebreak to take the lead.

The second set was more straightforward. The fourth seed captured an early break and erased three break points when serving to set up a rematch with Khachanov.

It was a difficult match. I thought he was in control of it throughout the first set. I was hanging on, and sometimes, that is just what you need to do. He came out swinging and didn’t give me chances to be aggressive. I tried to mix it up from the baseline. I was surprised at how well he played from the baseline, not giving me many unforced errors. He makes a lot but usually misses a lot, but today, he wasn’t missing, especially through some stages of the first set. Zverev on his win over Eubanks.

Alcaraz Outclasses Monfils

Carlos Alcaraz proved too good for Gael Monfils, continuing his quest for the Sunshine Double with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over the Frenchman.

Both players are known for their showmanship, but Monfils was subdued in the first set as he struggled to handle Alcaraz’s all-court game.

Aside from a late resurgence in the second set, where he broke back and redlined his game, the Spaniard was in little trouble, winning 76% of points behind his first serve and breaking four times across both sets.

The 2022 champion will next meet Lorenzo Musetti after the Italian took out Ben Shelton in straight sets.

He’s a great athlete. He reaches almost every ball. But at the same time, with my forehand, my best shot, I tried to move him around the court, tried to get him tired a little bit and give myself a chance to dominate the point, trying to go to the net and hit my best shots. Alcaraz on his win over Monfils.

Musetti Sinks Shelton

Lorenzo Musetti ended the day’s play in Miami with a 6-4, 7-6(5) victory over home hope Ben Shelton. Shelton was the last American man in the draw in a disappointing tournament for US-born players.

On the other hand, Musetti played some of his best tennis of the year, recovering from 0-3 and 1-4 down in the second to progress.

It was a fun match with the contrasting styles of Shelton’s aggressive play and Musetti’s baseline game. The Italian showed good versatility on his backhand to soak up Shelton’s booming forehands. Check out the two passing shots at 5-5 in the third, where he could/should have broken to avoid the tiebreak.

My team was saying patience because sometimes Ben, with the really good serves, could be really frustrating. On some points, I had an opportunity to break him in the second set, but I didn’t find the right ball with the forehand. Sometimes he was serving pretty well, with the slice at the body. Even the last point was really tough to return. I had to be patient and focus on what I had to do. I think I played probably the best match of the year. Musetti on his win over Shelton.

Other Matches of Note

• Khachanov Kicks Out Cerundolo: A 6-1 5-7 7-6(5) win for the Russian who took out my pick for a deep run, Francisco Cerundolo 🙃. Khachanov often flies under the radar at tournaments but consistently makes the latter stages.
• Marozsan Maintains Form: The Hungarian made another last-sixteen appearance at the Masters 1000 level, picking up where he left off against Rune to dispatch Alexei Popyrin 7-5, 6-3.
• Dimitrov Schools Hanfmann: 6-1, 6-0 for the Bulgarian to come through in just 46 minutes, and Hanfmann won just 13 points on serve and four on return. It was a day to forget.
• Hurkacz Edges Korda: A close three-setter with just four break points on offer across the 2 hours and 15 minutes, but it was the Pole who got the decisive break in the third set to take it 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 6-3 and move into the last 16
• De Minaur Makes Best Miami Result: A 19th win of the season for de Minaur to make the fourth round in Miami for the first time thanks to a -6(3), 6-4 win over Jan-Lennard Struff. Marozsan awaits.

Miami Open Day 7 Round of 16 Matches