Carlos Alcaraz keeps Miami Open title defence on track with straight-sets win

Spanish world No 1 brushes aside Serbia's Dusan Lajovic and will now face Tommy Paul of US in fourth round

Carlos Alcaraz celebrates after his victory over Dusan Lajovic in the Miami Open third round at Hard Rock Stadium on March 26, 2023. AFP

World No 1 Carlos Alcaraz eased past Serbia's Dusan Lajovic to keep his Miami Open title defence on track.

The Spaniard brought Daniil Medvedev's 19-match unbeaten run to an end in last week's Indian Wells final and looked impressive again on Sunday when he secured a 6-0, 7-6 victory.

Alcaraz replaced Novak Djokovic at the top of the world rankings again thanks to the win over Medvedev and looked like he was going to make very short work of Lajovic after a near-flawless first-set performance.

Lajovic put up a fight in the second set, though, fending off three match points in the tiebreak. But Alcaraz – who defeated Casper Ruud in last year's final to become the youngest ever champion – held his nerve and clinched it with a blistering backhand winner before pumping his fist triumphantly.

“Everything was under control,” said the 19-year-old, who set up a fourth-round meeting with Australian Open semi-finalist Tommy Paul. “But end of match is never easy. The nerves came out. I made a few mistakes that I didn't do around the whole match. So it was tough to win.

“I always think that you have to go for it. That's what I told myself in [those] tough moments.”

With Rafael Nadal injured and Novak Djokovic barred from entering the US due to his refusal to take a Covid-19 vaccine, Alcaraz is the face of this tournament and the crowd was noticeably bigger on the Hard Rock Stadium court for his game.

In the front row of the crowd was Miami Heat NBA star Jimmy Butler, who embraced Alcaraz after the match.

Alcaraz said that dealing with his magnified profile is something he has yet to get fully used to. “I feel great seeing celebrities watching my matches. It's unbelievable. I feel a little bit nervous when I see a person like Jimmy and the celebrities when I was playing in the US Open,” he said.

“In a certain way, I can't believe that these people enjoy watching my matches. For me, it's crazy.”

Fourth seed Daniil Medvedev advanced by walkover after Alex Molcan withdrew with a hip injury, while his Russian compatriot Andrey Rublev smashed Miomir Kecmanovic 6-1, 6-2.

American Taylor Fritz rolled into the fourth round for the third consecutive year after clinching a 6-4, 6-4 win against Canada's Denis Shapovalov. Fritz will now be up against 19-year-old seventh seed Holger Rune, who beat Argentine Daniel Schwartzman 6-4, 6-2.

Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp triumphed for the third time in four meetings with last year's finalist Ruud, emerging with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory.

Italian 10th seed Jannik Sinner continued his strong start to the year, defeating Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-4.