MIAMI — Russian Anastasia Potapova produced some of her best tennis to upset American Coco Gauff 6-7(8) 7-5 6-2 in a third-round thriller at the Miami Open.
Hubert Hurkacz saved five match points as he fought back to beat Thanasi Kokkinakis in a three and a half hour epic while fourth-seed Daniil Medvedev got his Miami Open bid under way with an easy win.
Potapova, seeded 27th, mounted a stout defence to fend off 10 of 13 break points and grinned widely as she fired down an unreturnable serve to secure the win and set up a meeting with China’s Zheng Qinwen.
“I had this belief in me that I can do this, that I just wanted to fight through and just to show my best tennis and not focus on the score,” she told the Tennis Channel according to Reuters.
“It doesn’t matter what the score is, you just try to show your best and that’s what I did.”
Up 5-2 in the first set, it looked as though it might be an easy day for Potapova. But world number six Gauff turned the tables when she converted break point chances in the ninth and 11th games and closed the tiebreak with a lethal backhand.
Potapova regained her composure in the second set and pummelled her opponent with her mighty forehand as she broke serve in the penultimate game.
Gauff reached the quarter-final at Indian Wells earlier this month but could not find her spark in the third set.
She failed to earn a single break point as Potapova dropped only one first-serve point and won the final five games.
“In the third set I felt (in control) a lot,” said Potapova, who triumphed in Linz last month.
Earlier, the home fans leapt to their feet as American Mackenzie McDonald survived a barrage of aces to upset Italian 19th seed Matteo Berrettini 7-6(8) 7-6(5).
Hurkacz was pushed all the way by the Australian lucky loser Kokkinakis before emerging with a 6-7 (10/12), 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (8/6) victory.
The Aussie had shown his mettle by saving six set points as he won the first-set tie-break and Hurkacz, the 2021 Miami champion, saved three match points in the second-set tie-break and another two in the final-set breaker.
“It’s tough to explain for me. I was just trying to stay in there and compete, play some good shots,” said Hurkacz, the eighth seed at Hard Rock Stadium.
Kokkinakis was on serve at 6-4 up in the final set tie-break but Hurkacz produced a stunning winner up the line and that shot finally turned the tide decisively towards the Pole, who won the next three points to settle the contest.
The three hours, 31 minutes contest was the longest best-of-three ATP match of the year so far.
In contrast, Indian Wells runner-up Medvedev barely broke sweat beating Spanish clay-court specialist Roberto Carballes Baena 6-1, 6-2 in just 62 minutes.
The Russian’s loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the Indian Wells final had ended his 19-match winning streak, but he was totally dominant as he struck 18 winners to the Carballes Baena’s five.
Medvedev made use of the drop shot, which Alcaraz had used to good effect against him last week, and joked that he had been trying to emulate the world number one.
“I thought I needed to use that shot more. I’ve always liked drop shots but it’s not a weapon in my game that I’m going to use 50 times a match,” he said.
“You need to have confidence in the shot and today it worked pretty well,” he said.
“I’m happy with my first match, solid performance, looking forward for next matches,” he added.
Medvedev became the first player to reach 25 wins this season on either the ATP or WTA tours.
French players enjoyed upset wins with Quentin Halys saving three match points as he beat 18th ranked Australian Alex De Minaur 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (10/8).
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