Tiafoe survives electric battle with 123rd-ranked Watanuki in Miami

Frances Tiafoe was given everything he could handle on Saturday night in Miami, but the 12th-seeded American found a way through, edging Japan’s Yosuke Watanuki 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3), 6-4 at the Miami Open on Sunday night.

Tiafoe, ranked No 14, will play Italian Lorenzo Sonego next.

Watanuke, making his Masters 1000 main draw debut this week, was in top form and very nearly pulled off the upset. Tiafoe had to battle back from a set and break down to secure a hard-fought victory that featured plenty of scintillating shotmaking from both sides of the bet.

In the third set Watunuki battled from a break down but Tiafoe broke critically in the sixth game and served out the victory in two hours and 46 minutes.

In the previous round of the Miami Open, Watanuki, ranked No 123, beat French qualifier Benoit Paire (6-4, 7-5).

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

• Adrian Mannarino beat Ben Shelton (32): 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
• Gregoire Barrere beat Cameron Norrie (11): 6-3, 6-2
• Daniil Medvedev (4) beat Roberto Carballes Baena: 6-1, 6-2
• Karen Khachanov (14) beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry: 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
• Hubert Hurkacz (8) beat Thanasi Kokkinakis (LL): 6-7 (10), 7-6 (7), 7-6 (6)
• Lorenzo Sonego beat Daniel Evans (23): 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
• Felix Auger-Aliassime (5) beat Thiago Monteiro: 7-6 (5), 7-6 (8)
• Quentin Halys beat Alex De Minaur (15): 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (8)
• Alex Molcan beat Yoshihito Nishioka (28): 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-2
• Mackenzie McDonald beat Matteo Berrettini (19): 7-6 (8), 7-6 (5)
• Cristian Garin (Q) beat Sebastian Baez (27): 7-6 (2), 6-3
• Jiri Lehecka beat Lorenzo Musetti (18): 6-4, 6-4
• Richard Gasquet vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas
• Francisco Cerundolo (25) beat Aleksandar Kovacevic (LL): 6-4, 6-4
• Christopher Eubanks (Q) beat Borna Coric (17): 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
• Taro Daniel (WC) beat Alexander Zverev (13): 6-0, 6-4
• 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