Miami Open: Medvedev and Auger-Aliassime join the casualty list as the draw continues to Shatter
The carnage at the Miami Open shows no sign of relenting. On Monday evening, two more heavyweights fell at Hard Rock Stadium as Daniil Medvedev and Felix Auger-Aliassime were sent packing.
Daniil Medvedev, Miami 2026 | © Miami 2026
The carnage at the Miami Open shows no sign of relenting. On Monday evening, two more heavyweights fell at Hard Rock Stadium as Daniil Medvedev and Felix Auger-Aliassime were sent packing by a pair of fearless outsiders, deepening what is fast becoming one of the most chaotic draws in the tournament’s recent history.
Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo, seeded 18th, was the first to deliver the blow, dismantling the No. 9 seed Medvedev in a breathless 6-0, 4-6, 7-5 encounter that swung violently in both directions before settling in the underdog’s favour.
The opening set was a statement of startling authority from Cerundolo. Then, as Medvedev recalibrated and clawed his way back into the match through the second, it threatened to become a different story entirely. The third set, though, belonged to the Argentine – a steely, high-quality affair that he ultimately saw out on his own terms.
It was, remarkably, the first meeting between the two men on tour. “I didn’t know what to expect,” Cerundolo admitted afterwards. “I never practiced with him. I watched him play a lot this year. He’s had a great year so far. I knew it would be super difficult. I didn’t expect to be up 6-0 and a break in the 2nd. He started playing super good. Things changed really quick.”
What kept the 26-year-old grounded in those wobbling moments was, of all things, the memory of a match played just 24 hours earlier. Sebastian Korda’s stunning victory over Carlos Alcaraz — another seismic upset in this same draw – had evidently lodged itself in Cerundolo’s mind. “I remember Sebastian Korda playing yesterday, it was kind of similar,” he said. “A set and a break for Korda. Then third set. I tried to stay there and kept believing. The 3rd set was a really good set from both. It ended up my way.”
It was a telling detail. In a tournament where the established order has been repeatedly upended, even the underdogs are drawing inspiration from each other.
Scarcely had the dust settled when Terence Atmane served notice of his own ambitions. The Frenchman, ranked 53rd in the world and given little chance against No. 7 seed Auger-Aliassime, produced a composed and mature performance to win 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 – his third top-10 victory on tour and his second Masters 1000 Round of 16 after Cincinnati 2025 (semifinal).
Atmane will now break into the top 50 for the first time in his career, a milestone that felt distant not long ago. That it arrives on a stage as prominent as Miami – and against a seed as formidable as Auger-Aliassime – only underlines the scale of what he has achieved in Florida this week.
