MIAMI GARDENS, Fla., March 26 (UPI) — No. 1 Iga Swiatek and No. 3 Coco Gauff suffered shocking upsets in the Round of 16 of the 2024 Miami Open, failing to reach the quarterfinals in Miami Gardens, Fla.
No. 27 Caroline Garcia of France beat Gauff 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 in an afternoon Round of 16 match Monday at Hard Rock Stadium.
“The match basically was an up-and-down match,” Gauff told reporters. “She played aggressive, which I knew coming in. I think it was really important for me to just change the height of the ball, and I did that well for the majority of the second set.
“Then, starting off the third with an early break, I think just completely changed the momentum.”
Gauff, the highest-ranked American women’s or men’s player, fired eight aces, but converted just 2 of 7 break point opportunities. Garcia broke Gauff’s serve three times.
“It was definitely a great match and great win for me,” Garcia said. “The last couple of months have not been easy, and definitely [Monday, following the match [Sunday], it means a lot. It was some great tennis.”
Garcia will face No. 53 Danielle Collins of the United States in the quarterfinals. The winner will play No. 5 Jessica Pegula of the United States or No. 16 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia in the semifinals.
Alexandrova ousted Swiatek in straight sets Monday night. She needed just 85 minutes to dispatch her Polish counterpart 6-4, 6-2.
Alexandrova edged Swiatek 7-3 in aces and converted 3 of 6 break point opportunities. Swiatek failed to convert her lone break point chance.
The Swiatek and Gauff losses — paired with Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka’s (No. 2) Round of 32 setback — leave just three of the Top 10 women’s players active in the tournament.
Pegula beat No. 20 Emma Navarro, a fellow American, 7-6(1), 6-3 in her Round of 16 match. No. 4 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, No. 9 Maria Sakkari of Greece, No. 32 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and No. 68 Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan were the other women to advance Monday in the singles circuit.
Putintseva will meet Azarenka in the quarterfinals. The winner will battle Sakkari or Rybakina in the semifinals.
No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, No. 5 Alexander Zverev of Germany, No. 9 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, No. 10 Alex de Minaur of Australia, No. 12 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria and No. 16 Karen Khachanov of Russia were the top men’s players to advance Monday in Round of 32 matchups.
No. 24 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy earn the biggest upset victory of the day on the men’s singles circuit, ousting No. 17 Ben Shelton of the United States in straight sets.
Alcaraz will meet Musetti in the Round of 16. The winner will face Hurkacz or Dimitrov in the quarterfinals. Zverev will battle Khachanov in another men’s Round of 16 match. The winner of that match will meet de Minaur or No. 57 Fabian Marozsan of Hungary in the quarterfinals.
Alcaraz, No. 3 Jannik Sinner of Italy, No. 4 Daniil Medvedev of Russia, Zverev, No. 8 Casper Ruud of Norway, Hurkacz and de Minaur will be the top men’s players in action Tuesday.
“I’m really happy with the level that I’m playing, the performance that I have been bringing into the court,” Alcaraz said. “It’s something that I’m working on to play as many matches as I can, to this level. For me, it’s great to feel this way on the court and hopefully I keep going.”
Rybakina and Sakkari will be the top women players competing Tuesday in quarterfinal matches.
