Miami Open: ‘grateful’ Osaka cruises in last 8, while Medvedev moves step closer to men’s world No 1 spot
- Russian Daniil Medvedev can replace Novak Djokovic at top of men’s world rankings if he reaches semi-finals
- Osaka beats American Alison Riske 6-3, 6-4 to reach quarter-finals for second year running
Top seed Daniil Medvedev moved a step closer to reclaiming the world number one ranking as he beat Spaniard Pedro Martinez 6-3 6-4 to reach the last 16 at the Miami Open, while Naomi Osaka cruised into the quarter-finals of the women’s draw.
Medvedev, who can replace Novak Djokovic on top of the world rankings if he reaches the Miami semi-finals, fired down 14 aces, won 79 per cent of his first-serve points and broke Martinez three times to secure victory in 84 minutes.
“I just felt like I had to be more consistent, and the more consistent one today would win,” Medvedev said. “I managed to just make a few less errors at important moments, serve even better, and it was a small margin but I managed to win and I’m really happy.”
Up next for the Russian, who lost his world No 1 ranking after a surprise third-round loss at Indian Wells two weeks ago, will be American Jenson Brooksby, a 6-3 5-7 6-4 winner over Spanish 15th seed Roberto Bautista Agut.
Spanish 14th seed Carlos Alcaraz will meet Greek third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in a mouth-watering fourth-round clash after both enjoyed straight-set wins over Marin Cilic and Alex de Minaur respectively.
The 18-year-old Alcaraz beat Tsitsipas in their only previous meeting, a five-set thriller in the third round of last year’s US Open.
“He is a great player,” Tsitsipas said of Alcaraz. “For me it will be a great challenge, the ones that I like.”