“He wasn’t feeling well,” said World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz, who fought back with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 victory, shocking the early exit from the Miami Open.
Goffin, 34, defeated Alcaraz at the last meeting in Astana three years ago, and the Spaniard was attacked rather than his best set in the opening set of his encounter at Hard Rock Stadium on Friday.
Goffin, 55th, ranked seventh in the world in 2017, hit some glorious winners while Alcaraz suffered from unforced errors.
Slightly built Goffin rose with a break in all three sets, but first recovered Alcaraz, he settled down and stayed on top.
“It’s that night that I definitely remember at Carlos and those stadiums, and that night that gave me a lot of confidence,” Goffin said.
Alcaraz was a dull one in his assessment of his performance.
“In general, it was a poor level from me. I didn’t play well,” Alcaraz said.
“I thought I was going to play really good tennis, but that didn’t happen… I had a breakdown in the third set and I was physically feeling good or not confident, and it’s really hard to get back,” he added.
Djokovic advances, but Medvedev was sent home
Novak Djokovic involved Australia’s Linky Hizikata in a straight set victory, but Danil Medvedev headed home early after a 6-2, 6-3 upset to Spain’s 56th place Jam Munar.
2023 Miami champion Medvedev showed frustration as the 27-year-old Mallorca-born Muna threw a racket several times and showed his frustration as he scored his third career victory with his top 10 opponent.
The Russians committed 32 forced errors and he gave him a chance to comeback in the final game, but he was unable to convert with two breakpoints.
Medvedev confirmed that he had a problem with his back, but gave credit to Muna, saying that it was no excuse.
“Yeah, I wasn’t 100% physically, but I did my best to get into the game,” he said. “Every day has gotten better and better. There have been some issues after the wells in India, and it can happen.
“He played well, so that’s why (he won). If I definitely knew I wasn’t ready to win, I wouldn’t have gone to the game.”
Djokovic, who lost his first match against the lucky loser at the Indian Wells, felt no good at another disappointment as he defeated 86th Hijikata 6-0, 7-6 (7/1) to lose three matches.
Having won a record 40 titles at the Masters 1000 level, Djokovic has been comparable to Rafael Nadal in most match victories (410) since the introduction of the series in 1990.
Karen Kachanoff assured Nick Kyrgios’ comeback trail was shorter with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-0 win.
Australia’s Kyrgios, who has struggled since wrist surgery, defeated Mackenzie MacDonald in the first round to win his first tour-level victory since October 2022, but was unable to overcome Kachanov, who reached the semi-finals in Miami in 2023.
Swiatek and Raducanu will also proceed
In a women’s draw, the world’s second-largest Iga Swiatek advanced to the third round after surviving a second set of dips by beating French Caroline Garcia 6-2, 7-5.
Swiatek had easily beat Garcia at the same stage at Indian Wells earlier this month, but she faced a little more resistance at Hard Rock Stadium.
Swiatek was 3-1 down in the second set and had to save the set points when serving 5-4 down before rallying to win the final three games.
Swiatek was defeated by the 17-year-old Russian who continued to win the title and lost to Mira Andriva in the semi-finals of the Indian Wells.
Andreva is taking action late on Friday when he plays against Russian Veronica Kudametova’s peers.
“My energy levels dropped very quickly, so I tried to wake myself up and stay strong from the first set, follow and go for it,” Swiatek said.
In the grandstand court, British Emma Laducanu showed grit and patience to overcome the eighth seeded American Emma Navarro 7-6 (8/6), 2-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a two-hour, 53-minute battle.
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