Miami (USA) (EFE).- The Spanish Carlos Alcaraz started his defense of the title in the Miami Masters 1,000 this Friday with a resounding victory against the Argentine Facundo Bagnis and advanced to the third round, like his compatriot Alejandro Davidovich, with whom he could meet in the round of 16, in a day marked by the surprising eliminations of the German Alexander Zverev and the Greek María Sakkari.
Alcaraz needed only 64 minutes to defeat Bagnis 6-0, 6-2 on his return to the track where, last year, he raised the first Masters 1,000 of his career to heaven.
The Murcian, who would close his 2022 with the first position in the world ranking thanks to the title at the United States Open, had an unbeatable start just five days after being crowned in Indian Wells with an exhibition against the Russian Daniil Medvedev.
In the third round, Alcaraz will face off against the Serbian Dusan Lajovic, number 74 in the world ranking, who beat the American Maxime Cressy.
The Murcian won the three precedents against Lajovic, including Rio and Buenos Aires this year, and, if he advances, he could meet his compatriot Alejandro Davidovich in the round of 16.
The native of Rincón de la Victoria (Málaga), Indian Wells quarterfinalist, beat Brandon Nakashima 6-4, 7-6(5).
Spanish tennis lost Roberto Bautista, who fell 6-4, 7-6(5) against the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori, world number 54, who had also been his executioner two weeks ago in Indian Wells.
The Spaniard had two set balls to equalize the match in the second set, with 5-4 on the scoreboard, but could not make it happen.
The big surprise was given by the Japanese Taro Daniel (n.97), who overwhelmed Zverev 6-0 and 6-4, who still has not found his best version after the very serious ankle injury suffered last year at Roland Garros.
Zverev, number 15 in the world, took a step back after reaching the round of 16 in Indian Wells, when he surrendered to Russian Daniil Medvedev.
Start with victory for the Argentine Diego Schwartzman, number 38 in the world, who beat the Chinese Yibing Wu, number 64, by 7-6(1) and 6-1 and advanced to the third round.
After losing in the second round of Indian Wells against the Norwegian Casper Ruud, Schwartzman achieved a valuable victory against an opponent in great shape, who won the Dallas tournament this year. He is now waiting for the Danish Holger Rune, seventh favorite.
In addition, Guido Pella fought for almost two hours against the Canadian Denis Shapovalov (n.30), but succumbed 6-3, 3-6 and 6-3.
In the women’s circuit, the Tunisian Ons Jabeur (n.5) and the Greek María Sakkari (n.10) said goodbye to the tournament at the first opportunity.
Jabeur, who is still not in top form after his knee operation, fell in his debut against the Russian Varvara Gracheva 6-2, 6-2 in just over an hour.
The other surprise came from Canada’s Bianca Andreescu, who eliminated Sakkari after an intense battle, marked by a long series of errors by both players, that lasted three hours and five minutes.
