The 2024 Miami Open is in full swing, and the last 16 contestants remain to continue their bid to dethrone defending champion Daniil Medvedev. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic skipped this year’s action at Miami Gardens. There is no report as to whether the 24-time Grand Slam champion is dealing with an injury or is just finding his breath after falling short in the Indian Wells Masters.
This leaves World No. 2, Carlos Alcaraz, as one of the SBOTOP Miami Open 2024 betting odds favourites to lift the hardware at the Hard Rock Stadium, garnering back-to-back glory after claiming and defending the Indian Wells title last week.
It won’t be a walk in the park for the Spaniard, not in the very least, as heavyweights like Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev, and Alexander Zverev have all reached the Round of 16 with Alcaraz.
Alcaraz has been lethal in Miami thus far, taking care of Baena in the Round of 64 (6-2, 6-1), and then proceeding to trample Monfils in the Round of 32 (6-2, 6-4). It looked like a surgical and routine win for the 20-year-old when he faced Gael Monfils, as the Spaniard was on pace to win the tie in little over an hour, or so he thought.
Monfils caught a hot hand late in the match, serving for the match at 5-3, and then proceeded to boast his famous forehand to win the following game to make Alcaraz serve it out.
Luckily for Alcaraz and his fans, the World No. 2 was able to quickly extinguish any sparks of resurgence shown by Monfils and was able to close it out 6-2, 6-4.
Fazed by the star-studded crowd in Miami, Alcaraz was keen on being the ambassador for the sport and showcasing the best tennis in the world.
“It’s kind of difficult to stay focused on the match, having such legends from every sport,” Alcaraz stated. “It’s great for me. I try to show great tennis, try to make them happy as well, and make them enjoy watching my games.”
Alcaraz will face 22-year-old Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the next round. Musetti edged out American Ben Shelton in a sweaty Round of 32 clash after breezing through Roman Safiullin 7-5, 6-1 in the Round of 64.
Daniil Medvedev sails past Cameron Norrie
Daniil Medvedev is the man to beat in this iteration of the Miami Open. The defending champion won the ATP Masters 1000 last year by dominating Jannik Sinner in the final in just 94 minutes.
It’s more of the same from Medvedev this year, as he cruised past Mucsovis and Norrie to reach the last 16, losing just six games in each of his 2024 Miami victories.
“Against Cameron it’s not that easy to go to the net,” said Medvedev, who won eight of his 12 approaches. “I feel like I’m improving a lot at the net this year, and it’s a part of my game where I want to improve, so I’m pretty happy about it.”
Medvedev isn’t out of the woods just yet, as he’ll take on the German veteran, Dominik Koepfer, in the next round of matches. It won’t be a cake walk for the World No. 4, but it would be fair to expect a handful of Miami Open 2024 highlights from Medvedev during their marquee matchup.
The 28-year-old Russian is on a path of redemption after falling to Carlos Alcaraz in the Indian Wells final last week, and by the looks of it, Medvedev is poised for another deep run, this time in Miami.
Jannik Sinner shows championship pedigree
Australian Open winner Jannik Sinner had the tennis world holding its breath after finding himself a set down against Tallon Griekspoor in the third round. The World No. 3 showed resilience and championship pedigree to come back and close out the big-serving Griekspoor 5-7 7-5 6-1, extending his winning record this year to a convincing 18-1.
“He has so many huge weapons with the serve and the forehand. Even the net game is really, really good.” Sinner exclaimed.
“I think he started off really well the match. I just tried to stay focused about my service games, which then I made couple of mistakes when he broke me. But he also played good game there in the first set.”
With this morale-boosting win, the World No. 3 advances to the fourth round to face another worthy adversary in Christopher O’Connell.
O’Connell, 29, has been a man on a mission in Miami, obliterating every adversary in the tournament thus far. O’Connell went on and thrashed Vít Kopřiva 6-2, 6-4 in the first round, and Americans Frances Tiafoe and Martin Damm Jr. in the second and third rounds, respectively.
The Australian could very well be a dark horse in the tournament, but his credentials will be rigorously tested in the Round of 16 against the Italian golden boy, Jannik Sinner.
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