It was anything but a normal Day 4 on the ATP side of the Miami Open. The second and seventh seeds, Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev were upset in their Round of 64 matches.
Alcaraz lost to ATP veteran David Goffin, 34, who presented a master class in precision serving that kept Carlos at bay. Goffin is no stranger to beating top-ranked players, including Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic.
Before Friday's match, Goffin was 1-1 against Alcaraz. This was a gutsy comeback from Goffin, a former World No. 7 in November 2017, who dropped the first set but rallied to win 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.
Carlos Alcaraz bounced out of the Miami Open early
David downs Carlos for his eighth career win over a top-3 player 🫨#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/UBxGCmIYMg
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) March 22, 2025
Medvedev is nursing a back injury that hampered him, but he had other issues, including a frank discussion with the powers that be about the balls used in his match. Undistracted and undeterred, Jaume Munar played an outstanding match to defeat Medvedev, 6-2, 6-3.
Munar Marches on 🔥
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 21, 2025
The moment @jamunar_38 defeated Medvedev to notch his first ever Top 10 win at a Masters event! #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/thZb1U6Upu
Other top players had to stage comeback wins
Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Tommy Paul, and Lorenzo Musetti had to come from behind after dropping the opening set of their matches.
A couple of BIG upsets on the men's side today 😳#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/AK9R16M6hQ
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) March 22, 2025
The routine straight-set wins were reserved for Novak Djokovic, Grigor Dimitrov, Karen Khachanov, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Francisco Cerundolo, and Sebastian Korda.
Alcaraz's loss opens up the bottom half of the draw for Brandon Nakashima who faces Goffin in the next round. Goffin was stretching his leg near the end of the match. Whether that was anxiety, nerves, or something more is yet to be known.
Americans Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, and Frances Tiafoe take the court on Saturday for their first matches after a first-round bye. Reilly Opelka, who defeated Chris Eubanks in the first round, faces Holger Rune.
The Brazilian teenage phenom Joao Fonseca is back for his second-round match against Ugo Humbert. That is expected to be played on the Grandstand court in front of a raucous Brazilian crowd that turns out en masse for the 19-year-old.
Indian Wells champion Jack Draper also takes the court on Saturday for the first time in Miami in pursuit of the Sunshine Double. Since arriving in Miami, Draper spent time with friend and compatriot Andy Murray, also known as Novak Djokovic's coach.
jack draper and andy murray together again ❤️ pic.twitter.com/ugCK9jRHNk
— aniuska (@anallinaresg) March 21, 2025