Alexander Zverev overcame Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-4 6-4 on Hard Rock Stadium after 1 hour and 32 minutes with a break in each set to reach the quarter finals at the Miami Open.
Zverev earned the decisive break in the fifth game of the opening set to take a 3-2 lead and held on his next service games to close out the first set 6-4. The reigning Olympic champion earned his second break of the match in the fifth game to seal the second set 6-4.
“I wanted to shorten the points as it was quite hot. Thanasi is a very aggressive player, so I tried to take that away from him. I was returning the second serve quite well. I kept putting pressure on him and kept being aggressive and it worked out well”, said Zverev.
Zverev set up a quarter final match against Casper Ruud, who knocked out Cameron Norrie 6-3 6-4.
“Casper is a great player and playing incredibly well now, so I am ready for a tough battle”, said Zverev.
Ruud has extended his winning record to 3-0 in his head-to-head matches against Norrie.
The Norwegian player, who dropped just eight games in his first two games, broke serve in the fourth game of the first set. He was solid on serve and broke twice in the third and seventh games to open up a 5-2 lead. Norrie pulled one break back on his third opportunity, when Ruud was serving for the match. Ruud served out the win on his second match point.
Ruud, who reached three Masters 1000 semifinals on clay in Rome, Monte-Carlo and Madrid, has reached his first quarter final on hard-court at this tournament level.
