Miami Masters: Musetti upsets Shelton, sets date with Alcaraz

Italian Lorenzo Musetti, the No 23 seed, reached the last 16 of the Miami Masters by beating American Ben Shelton, the No 16 seed, 6-4, 7-6 (5) at the Hard Rock Stadium on Monday night.

Shelton’s exit means no American men make the final 16 in Miami. While Musetti played solid, consistent tennis with flashes of brilliance throughout, Shelton did himself no favours by committing 23 forehand unforced errors across the match and allowing the Italian to come back from 4-1 down in the second set.

Musetti, ranked No 24, will play Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, the top seed, next. Of his upcoming clash with the world No 2, Musetti had this to say:

“It’s always a nice challenge. Especially for me. I have a huge friendship with him. We played so many battles on court. He’s up in the score. Hopefully I can win this time. I really look forward to playing him.

“He’s a great person. A great human being. A great athlete. For me it’s an inspiration. Hopefully I can give my best and try to win that match.”

Ahead of his victory, the 22-year-old Italian won against Russian Roman Safiullin (7-5, 6-1).

Shelton, ranked No 17, won against Spanish wildcard Martin Landaluce (6-3, 6-4) in the previous round of the Miami Open.

Miami Masters 1000, other third-round results (Hard Rock Stadium, hard, USD 10,404,205):

• Carlos Alcaraz beat Gael Monfils: 6-2, 6-4
• Grigor Dimitrov (11) beat Yannick Hanfmann: 6-1, 6-0
• Hubert Hurkacz (8) beat Sebastian Korda (28): 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 6-3
• Alex De Minaur (9) beat Jan-Lennard Struff (24): 7-6 (3), 6-4
• Alexander Zverev (4) beat Christopher Eubanks (31): 7-6 (4), 6-3
• Fabian Marozsan beat Alexei Popyrin: 7-5, 6-3
• Karen Khachanov (15) beat Francisco Cerundolo (20): 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (5)
• Daniil Medvedev (3) beat Cameron Norrie (30): 7-5, 6-1
• Dominik Koepfer beat Ugo Humbert (14): 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
• Casper Ruud (7) beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (27): 6-3, 6-4
• Nicolas Jarry (22) beat Thiago Seyboth Wild (Q): 6-7 (1), 7-5, 6-3
• Christopher O’Connell beat Martin Damm (WC): 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5)
• Matteo Arnaldi beat Denis Shapovalov: 6-3, 7-6 (7)
• Tomas Machac beat Andy Murray: 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (5)
• Jannik Sinner (2) beat Tallon Griekspoor (25): 5-7, 7-5, 6-1