Taro Daniel stuns Zverev to reach third round in Miami

Japanese wildcard Taro Daniel won against German Alexander Zverev, the No 13 seed, 6-0, 6-4 to reach the third round of the Miami Masters at the Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday night.

Daniel’s victory is a continuation of a recent trend. In each of his last three events, the 30-year-old has registered a massive upset. In Acapulco he took down No 4-ranked Casper Ruud; at Indian Wells he knocked off 23rd-ranked Matteo Berrettini.

Tonight in Miami it was 15th-ranked Alexander Zverev’s turn to fall victim.

Daniel has five top 25 wins in his career, and three of them have come in his last three events.

The Japanese was scorching-hot from the start as he ripped through the opening set without the loss of a game.

Zverev, who struggled with fatigue and gave himself an insulin shot during the match, was never able to earn a break point in the contest. Daniel broke for 3-2 in the second set and held serve the rest of the way to finish off his victory in 75 minutes.

Daniel, ranked No 97, will face Finn Emil Ruusuvuori next.

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Tennis Majors

In the previous round of the Miami Open, the Japanese benefited from the abandonment of Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech (4-1).

Miami Masters, other second-round results (Hard Rock Stadium, hard, USD 8.800.000, most recent results first):

• Roberto Carballes Baena vs. Daniil Medvedev
• Adrian Mannarino vs. Ben Shelton
• Karen Khachanov vs. Tomas Martin Etcheverry
• Yosuke Watanuki vs. Frances Tiafoe
• Gregoire Barrere vs. Cameron Norrie
• Daniel Evans vs. Lorenzo Sonego
• Hubert Hurkacz vs. Thanasi Kokkinakis
• Sebastian Baez vs. Cristian Garin
• Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Thiago Monteiro
• Yoshihito Nishioka vs. Alex Molcan
• Mackenzie McDonald vs. Matteo Berrettini
• Alex De Minaur vs. Quentin Halys
• Richard Gasquet vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas
• Jiri Lehecka vs. Lorenzo Musetti
• Aleksandar Kovacevic vs. Francisco Cerundolo
• Borna Coric vs. Christopher Eubanks
• Holger Rune (7) beat Marton Fucsovics: 6-3, 7-5
• Casper Ruud (3) beat Ilya Ivashka: 6-2, 6-3
• Dusan Lajovic beat Maxime Cressy (30): 6-4, 7-6 (2)
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (20) beat Brandon Nakashima: 6-4, 7-6 (5)
• Grigor Dimitrov (21) beat Jan-Lennard Struff (Q): 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4
• Carlos Alcaraz (1) beat Facundo Bagnis: 6-0, 6-2
• Miomir Kecmanovic (29) beat Ugo Humbert: 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3)
• Taylor Fritz (9) beat Emilio Nava (WC): 6-4, 6-1
• Tommy Paul (16) beat Marc-Andrea Huesler: 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
• Botic van de Zandschulp (26) beat Alexei Popyrin: 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2
• Diego Schwartzman (31) beat Yibing Wu: 7-6 (1), 6-1
• Jannik Sinner (10) beat Laslo Djere: 6-4, 6-2
• Andrey Rublev (6) beat J.J. Wolf: 7-6 (3), 6-4
• Emil Ruusuvuori beat Roberto Bautista Agut (22): 6-4, 7-6 (5)
• Denis Shapovalov (24) beat Guido Pella: 6-3, 3-6, 6-3