Even as big names like Stafanos Tsitsipas and Elena Rybakina moved into the quarter-finals, the Miami Open saw the likes of Francis Tiafoe and Hubert Hurkacz being upset by lower-ranked players.
2018 World Cup winners France held on to a narrow win over Ireland thanks to two big saves by Mike Maignan towards the end of the match. The Netherlands secured a comfortable win in their Euro qualifiers as did Sweden and Hungary.
Here’s a look at the key stories from international sporting events through the day for 28 March, 2023:
Tsitsipas, Rybakina win; Tiafoe, Hurkacz stunned
Tsitsipas wins after long wait in Miami, Halys rise continues Rybakina marches on in Miami, Pegula progresses
World number three Stefanos Tsitsipas finally got his Miami Open campaign under way on Monday with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win over Cristian Garin while Argentine Francisco Cerendulo upset fifth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Elena Rybakina extended her winning streak to 11 matches as she booked her place in the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Belgium’s Elise Mertens.
There were no shortage of upsets at Hard Rock Stadium with 12th seeded American Francis Tiafoe beaten by 59th ranked Italian Lorenzo Sonego in straight sets.
France’s Adrian Mannarino beat seventh-seeded Pole Hubert Hurkacz and American qualifier Christopher Eubanks defeated Gregoire Barrere in straight sets.
Tsitsipas has not be on court much in recent weeks. He withdrew from Acapulco due to a shoulder injury and was beaten in his opening match at Indian Wells this month.
The rest has, however, helped Tsitsipas to recover a little from his injury and although he was not at his sharpest, he did enough to book his place in the fourth round against Karen Khachanov.
Khachanov defeated Czech Jiri Lehecka 6-2, 6-4 to reach the Miami last 16 for the first time.
French qualifier Quentin Halys hit 15 aces as he beat American Mackenzie McDonald 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 to set up a fourth round clash with world number five Daniil Medvedev.
Halys had never won a match at ATP 1000 level prior to this tournament but has beaten Spain’s Pedro Martinez and Australian Alex de Minaur before taking out McDonald.
American Jessica Pegula looked comfortable and in command of her game as she beat Poland’s Magda Linette 6-1, 7-5.
World number three Pegula got off to a flying start - she struck seven winners in the opening nine minutes and won the first three games. With only 19 minutes on the clock she was 5-0 up.
The second set was a different story though with Linette grabbing a 5-2 lead. However, she twice let set point slip on her serve and Pegula went on to win the final five games to secure victory.
The American will face Anastasia Potapova after the Russian beat China’s Zheng Qinwen 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) to continue her impressive run.
Romanian Sorana Cirstea followed up her quarter-final at Indian Wells by securing another last eight appearance thanks to a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, win over Czech Marketa Vondrousova.
France beat Ireland, Netherlands ease past Gibraltar
France held on to beat Ireland 1-0 in Dublin on Monday to win their second Euro 2024 qualifier, while the Netherlands eased past Gibraltar 3-0.
Right-back Benjamin Pavard pounced with half an hour remaining at a sold-out Lansdowne Road before two superb Mike Maignan saves in the final two minutes.
With 30 seconds to play in Dublin, AC Milan’s Maignan, who has succeeded former captain Hugo Lloris as Les Bleus’ goalkeeper, tipped over team-mate Jules Kounde’s panicked header.
From the resulting corner Maignan saved the visitors’ skin as he made a similar save from Nathan Collins’ powerful effort.
In Rotterdam, Manchester City centre-back Nathan Ake scored twice in a little over half an hour as the Netherlands overcame 10-men Gibraltar, 200th in the FIFA rankings.
Atletico Madrid forward Memphis Depay opened the scoring in the first half with a towering header before veteran Liam Walker was shown a red card the other side of the break.
Oranje captain Virgil van Dijk bemoaned a lack of goals at De Kuip from his team, who lost heavily to France in their Group B opener on Friday.
“You score three goals, but you have to score many more,” van Dijk said.
“This is a game where you can hardly ever get it right. You have to win 10-0, so to speak,” he added.
In Group F, Sweden bounced back from a heavy opening defeat to Belgium by hammering Azerbaijan 5-0 in Solna.
Emile Forsberg, Viktor Gyokeres, Jesper Karlsson and Anthony Elanga netted for the hosts and Bahlul Mustafazade scored an own goal.
Austria avoided an upset at home to beat Estonia 2-1 despite trailing after 25 minutes from a Rauno Sappinen effort.
Dominik Szoboszlai superb free-kick set Hungary on their way to a 3-0 success over Bulgaria as they started their campaign clinically.
Elsewhere in Group G, Dusan Vlahovic’s double were more than enough as Serbia beat Montenegro 2-0 in only their third meeting since Montenegro declared independence in 2006.
In Group E, the Czech Republic were held 0-0 by lowly Moldova as Karol Swiderski scored his ninth goal in 21 internationals as Poland beat Albania 1-0 after losing to the Czechs on Friday.
On Tuesday, the pick of the ties is in Group A as Spain head to Scotland with the next international window in June.
With text inputs from AFP
Updated through the day
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