Karen Khachanov took advantage of Stefanos Tsitsipas’ mistakes on Tuesday to qualify for the round of 16 of the Miami Masters 1000 (7-6 [4], 6-4). They met for the first time since the victory of the Greek in the semi-finals of the last Australian Open. While he had never gone further than the third round in Florida (during the 2021 edition against Jannik Sinner), the Russian reached the round of 16. He will face in the quarterfinals the winner of the upcoming duel between Francisco Cerundolo and Lorenzo Sonego.
During a long balanced match marked by 10 shutouts, Karen Khachanov and Stefanos Tsitsipas struggled to decide. After two breaks saved in the first set, the Russian managed to bend the world number 3 during the tie-break by taking advantage of his unforced errors.
We had to wait 3-2 in the 2nd set to see the first lost service of the game, and it was again to Karen Khachanov that it smiled… on a shutout. More incisive on the few decisive blows, the 16th in the ATP ranking seemed fresher than the Greek. This one had recently been hit in the shoulder and had been eliminated from entry to Indian Wells.
