MIAMI
\nTop seed Carlos Alcaraz powered into the fourth round of the Miami Open with a 6-2, 6-4 win over French veteran Gael Monfils at Hard Rock Stadium on Monday. The 37-year-old Monfils was coping well with the power play of the talented Spaniard until he hurt his ankle in the fifth game.
\nWhile Monfils carried on bravely, bringing out some wonderful defensive shots from Alcaraz, the world number two was too much for the Parisian. There were plenty of smiles, in between the occasional wince from Monfils, who enjoyed some entertaining rallies where Alcaraz could show his deftness of touch.
\nWith the outcome feeling like a formality, Alcaraz eased off the gas and Monfils was able to break for the first time to reduce the deficit to 5-3. Monfils then held his serve with a brilliant cross court winner before Alcaraz wrapped up business to book a place in the fourth round against Lorenzo Musetti.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s a great athlete,\u201d Alcaraz said of Monfils, \u201cHe reads almost every ball so I had to be patient but at the same time, with my forehand, my best shot, try to move him around the court, to get him tired a little bit and give myself the chance to dominate the point, get to the net, hit my best shot.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s what I was trying to do in the match and it worked pretty well,\u201d he added.
\nAlcaraz said he had enjoyed playing under the lights in front of stars such as Brazilian footballer Neymar and NBA star Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat.
\nBut he expects a much tougher test from Musetti, who won an enthralling battle with American Ben Shelton in front of a raucous crowd on the Butch Buchholz court 6-4, 7-6 (7\/5).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MIAMI Top seed Carlos Alcaraz powered into the fourth round of the Miami Open with a 6-2, 6-4 win over French veteran Gael Monfils at Hard Rock Stadium on Monday. The 37-year-old Monfils was coping well with the power play of the talented Spaniard until he hurt his ankle in the fifth game. While Monfils […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-396578","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n