Super Sonego in Miami! He beats Tiafoe and reaches the round of 16. Today Sinner-Rublev

The impression was that yes, Lorenzo Sonego could beat Frances Tiafoe as happened in November in Malaga at the Davis Cup finals. Between saying and doing, however, there is the sea, in Miami there was even a storm that interrupted the match in the second set. Sonego faced the storm as he has often shown he knows how to do and gave himself an extraordinary victory: 6-3 6-4 against the 14th player in the ranking, seeded number 12. Round of 16 reached and now, even they dream of the quarterfinals: the next opponent will be Francisco Cerundolo, who surprisingly beat Felix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets (6-2 7-5) in the third match between the two this year.

the match

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A perfect proof from Sonego. The numbers speak for themselves: 8 aces with zero double faults, 22 winners, 91% of points with the first and 82% with the second. Lorenzo lost only five runs in his innings. He has literally never suffered in service games and in return he took advantage of Tiafoe’s empty passes: a break per set, respectively in the fourth (double fault and three free passes by the American) and in the first game. In the first set Lorenzo also had set points in response, in the eighth game: Tiafoe saved himself but not badly, the Italian kept the innings to zero in the following game and closed the set. For the rest, the game was dominated by serves and went by quickly: the two were on the field for just over an hour, even if no games were played for over two hours (on a 3-2 score for Sonego in the second set) due to the storm. The classic break that risks benefiting those below, but this was not the case: Lorenzo was perfect from start to finish. Gipo Arbino’s pupil is among the top 50 in the world: he is virtually number 47.

Sinner today

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Sonego, therefore, remains indigestible for Tiafoe, defeated in Malaga also in that case in two sets (6-3 7-6). The match against Cerundolo is an opportunity to reach a great goal, the quarterfinals of a Masters 1000: it would be the third time in his career, the first on hard courts. Cerundolo is not Aliassime, but he shouldn’t be underestimated: last year he reached the semifinal in Miami thanks also to the withdrawal of Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinal match. The South Tyrolean will take the field today, at 5 pm, for the round of 16 against Andrey Rublev.