One round after Sebastian Korda stunned World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz at the Miami Open, Spanish qualifier Martin Landaluce showed Korda the door in the Round of 16 on Tuesday in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Korda, seeded 32nd and playing in his native Florida, served for the match during a second-set tiebreaker before Landaluce extended the bout and ultimately won 2-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4.
The opponents held serve throughout the second set, and Landaluce moved ahead 4-2 early in the tiebreaker. Korda ripped off four of the next points to reach 6-5 and had a chance to end it, but Landaluce saved match point with a backhand winner and ran off two more points to claim the set.
“I needed to go for a nice shot, and I hit a winner,” Landaluce said. “It’s a nice feeling to get it like that. All the Spaniards try this. They have that fighting spirit … I have been watching that my whole career and I’m here right now, so I had to try it.”
Landaluce broke Korda’s serve early in the third set and again once Korda had closed within 5-4. Korda fell despite finishing with the advantage in aces (11-4), total winners (32-18), break points converted (3-2) and fewer unforced errors (16-13).
Landaluce, 20, had never been further than the second round of any ATP 1000 tournament.
Another American bowed out when Czech 21st seed Jiri Lehecka clawed past No. 6 seed Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-2. Fritz controlled the second-set tiebreaker before Lehecka played a stellar third set, when he hit seven of his 10 aces on the day and went 13-for-15 on first-service points.
“I thought in the second set, I kind of stepped back a little bit,” Lehecka said. “In the end, I just felt that in the third set, if I wanted to beat a guy like Taylor, I just needed to go for it and be aggressive. I needed to show the courage that I wanted to win the point. That’s what I tried to do, and it worked well.”
Landaluce and Lehecka will meet in the quarterfinals, as will No. 22 seed Tommy Paul and No. 28 Arthur Fils of France. Paul broke the American losing streak with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Argentine 29th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry; Fils beat No. 24 Valentin Vacherot of Monaco 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-4.
Four matches remain in the evening session, including No. 2 seed Jannik Sinner of Italy against American Alex Michelsen and No. 19 seed Frances Tiafoe of the U.S. against France’s Terence Atmane.
–Field Level Media
