Alexandrova, Top Tennis Tackler in Miami

Ekaterina Alexandrova eliminated two top five seeds in Miami. They are Pegula and Swiatek.

GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP/AL BELLO

Ekaterina Alexandrova celebrates match point against Jessica Pegula in the WTA 1000 Miami quarter-finals, Wednesday (27/3/2024). Alexandrova defeated Pegula, 3-6. 6-4, 6-4.

MIAMI, WEDNESDAY — The WTA 1000 Miami tournament is a nightmare for the top ten seeded women's tennis players. Nine of them were eliminated from the second round to the quarter-finals, two of them were eliminated by Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Alexandrova defeated fifth seed, Jessica Pegula, in the quarterfinals with a score of 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida, United States, Wednesday (27/3/2024). This was Alexandrova's second consecutive win over a top five seed, who is also a player ranked in the top five in the world. In the fourth round, the Russian tennis player beat the world number one, Iga Swiatek, with a fairly landslide score, 6-4, 6-2.

Besides Pegula and Swiatek, the other top ten seeds that have been eliminated are Aryna Sabalenka (2), Cori "Coco" Gauff (3), Ons Jabeur (6), Zheng Qin Wen (7), Maria Sakkari (8), Jelena Ostapenko (9), and Daria Kasatkina (10).

The only one who will survive and appear in the semifinals on Thursday is Elena Rybakina who is seeded fourth. The Wimbledon 2022 champion will face former world number one tennis player, Victoria Azarenka, who defeated Zheng in the third round.

Also read: Medvedev, Alcaraz, and Sinner Advance to Miami Open Quarterfinals

The other semifinal will take place between Alexandrova and the home country tennis player, Danielle Collins. Collins, who will end her career as a professional tennis player at the end of 2024, defeated Caroline Garcia in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Garcia was the conqueror of Coco in the fourth round.

AP PHOTO/MARTA LAVANDIER

Ekaterina Alexandrova shakes Jessica Pegula's hand after the WTA 1000 Miami quarter-final match which Alexandrova won, Wednesday (27/3/2024).

"Amazing. It was very difficult to win today's match. This is my best achievement in this tournament and reaching the semifinals is a big bonus," said Alexandrova.

Alexandrova is the 14th ranked tennis player in the world who has competed in professional tennis since 2011. The semifinals which will be held in Miami will be the second in a WTA 1000 level tournament after Madrid in 2022. That, his journey was stopped by Jabeur who finally won. In Grand Slam events, his best achievement was the fourth round at Wimbledon 2023.

Remarkable. It was very difficult to win today's match. This is my best achievement in this tournament, and reaching the semifinals is a great bonus.

The 29-year-old tennis player won her first title in the WTA tournament by winning the WTA International Shenzhen 2020 after defeating Rybakina in the final. She has three other titles from WTA 250, but has not been able to win a tournament at a higher level. Two finals from the WTA 500 tournaments in Russia in 2021 and Austria in February 2024 ended in defeats.

Also read: Grand Slam Champions work extra hard

If she can defeat Collins, Alexandrova will achieve the highest result of her career. However, she realizes that the challenge of each round is becoming heavier. "There is no easy match here," she said.

Collins, who will face Alexandrova, is a tennis player who often surprises by defeating top players. When reaching the final of the 2022 Australian Open Grand Slam, she defeated Swiatek in the semifinals. Three years earlier, in the same event, Collins won against the second-seeded Angelique Kerber in the fourth round.

AP PHOTO/LYNNE SLADKY

Danielle Collins celebrates a point against Caroline Garcia in the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 Miami on Wednesday (27/3/2024). Collins will face Ekaterina Alexandrova in the semifinals.

If he can show his best, Collins has a solid serve and forehand from the baseline. When he beat Garcia in the quarter-finals, 90 percent of his points came from the first serve. He never faced an opponent's break point and broke his opponent's serve three times out of eight opportunities.

Collins has never faced Alexandrova. Nevertheless, she remains cautious. "Her game continues to develop and she has had a good journey in recent months," said Collins.

When Collins faced Alexandrova in a competition between two tennis players who had never made it to the WTA 1000 final, Rybakina and Azarenka were tennis players who had already won titles from the tournament's level. Rybakina won the WTA Indian Wells and Rome in 2023. Meanwhile, Azarenka, who started her professional career in 2003, has won 10 WTA 1000 titles, including the one in Miami in 2009, 2011, and 2016.

Medvedev's opportunity is still open

In the men's singles competition at the ATP Masters 1000 level, Daniil Medvedev still has the opportunity to defend his title. The third seed won the quarter-finals over Nicolas Jarry 6-2, 7-6 (7).

Despite having 20 championship titles, including the 2021 US Open Grand Slam and six ATP Masters 1000 titles, Medvedev has never successfully defended a championship title. This year, he lost his titles from Rotterdam and Doha because he did not participate in the competition. Meanwhile, his championship title from Dubai was lost due to being knocked out in the semifinals. The Miami Masters presents the next opportunity for him to win a tournament consecutively.

AP PHOTO/MARTA LAVANDIER

Daniil Medvedev celebrates his victory over Nicolas Jarry at the ATP Masters 1000 Miami tournament, Wednesday (27/3/2024).

However, one of the big obstacles awaits in the semifinals, namely Jannik Sinner who won over Tomas Machac 6-4, 6-2. Medvedev is 6-4 ahead of Sinner, but has lost the last four meetings.

Sinner, who is the second seed, has also been consistently performing this year by always reaching the semi-finals in four tournaments. He even won two consecutive tournaments, namely the Australian Open and ATP 500 Rotterdam.

"He plays better from game to game. When faced with difficulties, he is able to find solutions. That's what sets champions apart from others. So, facing Jannik is definitely a big challenge," commented Medvedev on the ATP official website.

The possibility of a meeting among the top four seeded tennis players could happen in another semifinal, namely between Carlos Alcaraz (1) and Alexander Zverev (4). However, Alcaraz must first pass Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals on Thursday, while Zverev must win against Fabian Marozsan. (AFP/REUTERS)