Mar 28, 2023; Miami, Florida, US; Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) hits a forehand against Tommy Paul (USA) in the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz received an unscheduled day off on Wednesday when his quarterfinal match against ninth-seeded Taylor Fritz at the Miami Open was postponed due to rain.
The winner between defending champion Alcaraz, a 19-year-old Spain native, and Fritz, a 25-year-old California native, will oppose Jannik Sinner in the semifinals. The 10th-seeded Italian crushed Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori 6-3, 6-1 in the only men’s match played Wednesday.
Alcaraz-Fritz will join the slate of quarterfinals on Thursday that also will include No. 4 Daniil Medvedev of Russia vs. Christopher Eubanks of the United States and No. 14 Karen Khachanov of Russia vs. No. 25 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina.
Alcaraz is looking to achieve the “Sunshine Double,” sweeping the consecutive hard-court events in Indian Wells, California, and Miami. Seven men have accomplished the feat: Jim Courier (1991), Michael Chang (1992), Pete Sampras (1994), Marcelo Rios (1998), Andre Agassi (2001), Roger Federer (2005, 2006, 2017) and Novak Djokovic (2011, 2014-16).
Jannik Sinner of Italy plays a backhand against Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland in their quarterfinal match at Hard Rock Stadium on March 29, 2023 in Miami Gardens, Florida. Clive Brunskill/Getty Images/AFP
Sinner is through to the semifinals of a Masters 1000 event for the third time in his career. He lost to Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in the 2021 Miami Open final, and he fell against Alcaraz in the semis at Indian Wells earlier this month.
On Wednesday, Sinner needed just 75 minutes to swat aside Ruusuvuori. Sinner lost just one of his 22 first-serve points, and he won 60 percent (12 of 20) of his second-serve points. Ruusuvuori managed just 30 percent success (6 of 20) on his second serve.
Sinner saved the only break point he faced while converting four of his six break-point opportunities.
“We both played well today but I won the important points,” Sinner said. “It’s never easy when you are up and you get interrupted, but I came back and played well.”
The match had a two-hour rain delay with Sinner ahead 6-3, 2-0, but the Italian had no problem resuming his momentum when action resumed.