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World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz has left the tennis world fighting for superlatives after an extraordinary display in the third round of the Miami Open. Fresh off his title at this month’s Indian Wells hard court tournament, the Spanish teenager kept his title defense alive in Miami with a 6-0, 7-6 (7-5) victory over the Serbian Dusan Lajovic.

Alcaraz dismissed 26 winners to set up a fourth-round meeting with Australian Open semifinalist Tommy Paul. The 19-year-old remains on track for tennis’ “Sunshine Double” and would be considered the favorite to succeed in Miami after beating Daniil Medvedev to claim the Indian Wells trophy last week.

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The Spanish teenager looked at his best when he outpointed Lajovic in a dominating first set, where he did not allow his Serb opponent to win a single game. In addition to dishing out a bagel for his hapless opponent, Alcaraz was dishing up plenty of magic on the court, including an outrageous forehand pass at 1-1 in the second set.

The Serb was able to provide some tension towards the end of the second set, breaking to make it 5-5 with Alcaraz paying the price for a sloppy return. Alcaraz then went up 6-2 in the tiebreaker before allowing Lajovic to win the next three points. A sublime winning backhand from the Spaniard finally settled the contest.

“Everything was under control,” said Alcaraz, who greeted six-time Miami Heat NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler courtside after the game. “But the end of the game is never easy. The nerves came out. I made some mistakes that I didn’t make in the whole game. So it was difficult to win.”

Carlos Alcaraz continues to accept superstar status

With Rafa Nadal injured and the unvaccinated Novak Djokovic unable to enter the United States, Alcaraz is the face of this tournament and the crowd was noticeably larger on the Hard Rock Stadium court for his game. Alcaraz admitted that dealing with his magnified profile is something he still hasn’t gotten used to after his postgame hug with NBA superstar Butler.

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“I feel really good seeing celebrities watching my matches. It’s unbelievable. I feel a bit nervous when I see a person like Jimmy and celebrities when he was playing at the US Open,” he said. “In a way, I can’t believe these people enjoy watching my games. To me, it’s crazy.”

Alcaraz faces Paul next in the last 16, with the American set to enter the contest off the back of a 12-match winning streak against Spanish players that includes victories over Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal last year. “I lost the first and only game I played against Tommy. I know he is a very talented and very tough player, so I have to play my best and see what happens,” Alcaraz said.

Earlier, Denmark’s Holger Rune hit seven aces and 27 winners to beat Argentine Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 6-2. The seventh seed’s next match is the first of his career against American Taylor Fritz, who reached the fourth round for the third straight year after posting a 6-4, 6-4 victory against Canadian Denis Shapovalov.

In a hard-hitting encounter, with both players trading blows from the baseline, Fritz didn’t face a break point during the 81-minute win. “In this next match against Holger (Rune), I would be surprised if he didn’t have more chances to attack,” said Fritz.

“Nothing to do with him (Rune), because against Emilio (Nava) and Denis (Shapovalov), these two games, I have never seen a guy go after him so much and not leave me any attacking option. Hopefully in the next game I’ll have more chances to be aggressive.”

with agencies

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