Karen Khachanov defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round of the 2023 Miami Open as he put on a superb performance.
Going into the match, both players lacked a bit of match practice as they both lost early in Indian Wells. Moreover, Tsitsipas got a walkover in the second round in Miami, and it wasn't surprising when he said that he felt like on a vacation after his third-round win.
In the past, the two met six times on the ATP Tour, but the Russian never managed to beat the Greek. However, Khachanov triumphed once against Tsitsipas, back in 2019 at an exhibition event in Boodles.
He was determined to replicate that performance at the 2023 Miami Open, but he struggled at the start. Tsitsipas had two break points in the seventh game of the first set, but the Russian saved both and controlled the rest of his service games.
Therefore, the first set had to be decided in a tie-break. Tsitsipas started making mistakes, including one of his four double faults, and that was enough for Khachanov to win the tie-break. The Russian won it 7-4 and took the first set.
In the second set, Khachanov didn't want to rely on his performance in the tie-break and he showed it. Between the fourth and seventh game, he won 13 consecutive points and gained the necessary lead to beat the world number three.
After one hour and 34 minutes, Khachanov won the match 7-6(4), 6-4 to set up a quarterfinal meeting with the winner of the match between the 25th-seeded Francisco Cerundolo, who is last year's semifinalist, and Lorenzo Sonego from Italy.
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