Miami Open ATP – how the seeds fared in round two

The third round is set on the men’s side at the Miami Open and not all the seeds have made it through.

Taylor Fritz, Miami 2022 © Panoramic

March 27, 2022

Miami Open 2022: Men’s Singles Draw | Results | Order of Play

And then there were 32. The men’s draw is down to 32 players at the Miami Open, and several seeds have already been sent packing in the second round. Join us for a look at the upsets – and a look ahead to the second week.

Oh, Canada

It was a rough sunshine double for Felix Auger-Aliassime. The 21-year-old entered March with plenty of momentum thanks to Canada’s ATP Cup title in January and his maiden singles title in Rotterdam in February. But Auger-Aliassime, seeded 7, lost his first match at Indian Wells to Botic van de Zandschulp and today in Miami he was toppled by Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic.

Auger-Aliassime vs. Kecmanovic underway, for me the match of the day.

Felix 4th in the ATP Race, Mischa 16th.

Rematch of the 2016 US Open Juniors final, that FAA won 6-0, 6-3. pic.twitter.com/dUd31qLFXw
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) March 26, 2022

Denis Shapovalov, the No 12 seed was also sent packing. The 22-year-old fell to Lloyd Harris, 6-3, 6-4.

The Canadian men will have to regroup on the clay.

Highest seed to fall – Rublev

Andrey Rublev drew the short straw in Miami, coming up against in-form Nick Kyrgios in his first match after a bye. 102nd-ranked Kyrgios needed just 52 minutes to take out the No 5 seed, 6-3, 6-0.

“I felt like I just played the right way,” Kyrgios said of his lights-out performance. “He doesn’t have a great second serve, and I thought I just played up in the court, I returned really well. I guess when I got that break in the first set, my shoulders opened up a little bit and everything was clicking today. I mean, I know I’m capable of that.”

Another one from the @NickKyrgios bag of tricks 🎩#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/CwvHnd6HBh
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 25, 2022

Tall Americans fall short

A pair of towering Americans had their stay in Miami cut short as former champion John Isner, the No 20 seed, and Reilly Opelka, the No 16, were each knocked out in second-round action. Opelka retired down 6-1 3-1 due to injury against Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo, while Isner fell to France’s Hugo Gaston, 7-6(5), 6-4.

It wasn’t all bad for the Americans however. Jenson Brooksby (d. Basilashvili), Taylor Fritz (d. Kukushkin), Tommy Paul (d. Khachanov), Sebastian Korda (d. Ramos-Vinolas), Frances Tiafoe (d. Nakashima), Denis Kudla (d. Sonego) and Mackenzie McDonald (d. Dimitrov) all passed into round three.

That’s seven men into the third round at Indian Wells and Miami for Team USA.

Seeds who didn’t win a match

Seeds went 19-12 in their second round matches (4th-seeded Matteo Berrettini pulled out with a hand injury). Below find a list of the seeds who didn’t make it (and who they lost to).

No 27 Cristian Garin (Pedro Martinez)
No 18 Nikoloz Basilashvili (Jenson Brooksby)
No 12 Denis Shapovalov (Lloyd Harris)
No 24 Dan Evans (Yoshihito Nishioka)
No 23 Karen Khachanov (Tommy Paul)
No 32 Albert Ramos-Vinolas (Sebastian Korda)
No 5 Andrey Rublev (Nick Kyrgios)
No 16 Reilly Opelka (Francisco Cerundolo)
No 20 John Isner (Hugo Gaston)
No 13 Diego Schwartzman (Thanasi Kokkinakis)
No 19 Lorenzo Sonego (Denis Kudla)
No 26 Grigor Dimitrov (Mackenzie McDonald)

Fritz opens up his bid for Sunshine double

Only seven ATP players have won the Indian Wells – Miami double (aka Sunshine Double) in history, and it has not happened since Roger Federer wrapped up his third double in 2017.

Will it be Taylor Fritz’s turn in 2022? The No 11-seeded American jumped the first hurdle on Saturday, defeating Mikhail Kukushkin, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. The American, who is still nursing an ankle injury from Indian Wells, even hinted that he’s in the hunt when he signed the camera after his win.