Coco Gauff out at Miami Open, tournament director smooths things over after Casper Ruud rant
The Miami Open will go on without South Florida fan favorite Coco Gauff. The third-ranked American was eliminated 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 by No. 23 Caroline Garcia of France late Monday afternoon at Hard Rock Stadium.
Garcia had won their previous two matches in 2022 but had lost seven matches in a row to Top 10 players before Monday.
In the night match at Hard Rock Stadium, top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, the 2022 Miami Open champion, beat Gael Monfils 6-2, 6-4 in a battle more entertaining than the score indicates. The crowd included soccer star Neymar, Heat star Jimmy Butler and Argentine tennis legend Juan Martin del Potro.
“I love playing here,” Alcaraz said. “It is incredible playing in front of legends of every sport. I try to show great tennis to make them happy, as well. Obviously, I have a relationship with Jimmy Butler. I talked a little bit with Juan Martin and Neymar. It’s great to put on a show in front of them.”
Alcaraz said he heard from Neymar before the match and the Brazilian soccer star told him he was attending the match with Butler. Afterward, Alcaraz spent a few minutes chatting with Neymar and Butler.
“We talked with Neymar about how his knee (rehab) is going, step by step, and he is here a couple of days enjoying Miami a little bit,” Alcaraz said. “With Jimmy, he has a really important game tomorrow (against the Warriors), so I wished him good luck.”
Earlier on Stadium Court, Gauff was unable to get past Garcia, whose style of play works well against the American.
Asked why her game gives Gauff so much trouble, Garcia said: “I always try to be very aggressive and take some time away and it looks like Coco doesn’t really like that. We have had some good battles in the past and I always tried to go as much as I can with confidence and conviction in my shots.”
Gauff knew going in that it would be a tough matchup against Garcia, who had just beaten Naomi Osaka in the previous round.
“She played aggressive, which I knew coming in,” Gauff said. “It was really important for me to just change the height of the ball, which I did well for the majority of the second set. Then, starting off the third with an early break, I think just completely changed the momentum. “
Gauff, a Delray Beach native, wanted desperately to win this tournament, but said she didn’t feel any added pressure.
“I feel like I know how to play with home pressure, especially after the while U.S. swing last year,” she said. “I didn’t feel any nerves coming in today or at all this week. I felt really good, my first two matches here were good, so I don’t think it had anything to do with being home.”
Garcia beat Gauff twice at the end of the 2022 season, both times in straight sets. She won 6-3, 6-4 at the U.S. Open and 6-4, 6-3 at the WTA Finals. This will be Garcia’s first time in the Miami Open quarterfinals.
The first woman to reach the quarters was No. 9 Maria Sakkari of Greece, who advanced because of a walkover from No. 25 Anna Kalinskaya of Russia, who withdrew with a thigh injury.
In other women’s matches Monday, it was a good day for Kazakhstan as No. 4 Elena Rybakina eliminated American Madison Keys 6-3, 7-5 and Yulia Putintseva beat Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine 6-4, 7-6 (7-5). Also, former No. 1 Victoria Azarenka overpowered Katie Boulter 7-5, 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals. And, Danielle Collins reached her third Miami Open quarterfinal with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Sorana Cirstea.
Ruud rant addressed by tournament director
In some men’s tournament news away from the court, Miami Open tournament director James Blake spoke with No. 7 seed Casper Ruud and his father, Christian, and smoothed things over after the younger Ruud, a former finalist in the event, was caught on camera harshly criticizing the tournament facilities during his second-round win over French teenager Luca van Assche over the weekend.
During one of the changeovers, the Norwegian ranted to the chair umpire, complaining that the “tournament is too cheap” to provide an adequate changing room for the players.
“There’s been no towels, no cold water, and just a plastic chair to change. This is a joke,” said Ruud, who was playing on one of the outer courts. “And you know why it is, because the tournament is too cheap to put up something good for the players. The players come here every year to play, to put on a show in front of tens of thousands of people and then they treat us like this.
“Go to trailer for five minutes in a room with nothing and just a plastic chair to change. Maybe they can put some towels, maybe some cold water for the players’ comfort. And it’s not your fault. I’m just saying how bad it is.”
When the umpire told Ruud he was unaware of the changing room setup, Ruud suggested he share his complaints with ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi and managing director Massimo Calvelli.
“No, I know you didn’t know but I’m telling you now,” Ruud continued. “And you have to take it on today to whoever is charge, Andrea, Massimo, whoever. Because every time the players complain, nothing happens.”
Blake, who knows Christian Ruud from their playing days, told the Miami Herald he could empathize with Casper blurting things out during the heat of a match and harbored no ill feelings. He also stressed that the tournament always does its best to give players first-rate amenities.
In this case, Blake said, the outer court changing room, which is just used for a few minutes to change during the match, was a trailer and because of the constant rain the previous 24 hours, some of the towels probably had not been restocked as they should have. But he said there was “tons” of cold water, room temperature water, towels, cold towels, fans, on the court.
“I think this is one instance where it definitely helps that I was a player because I recognize when something is said in the heat of battle and said to an umpire, and we live in a social media era where things get picked up and take on a life of their own,” Blake said of the video, which went viral.
“We’ve all had a bad day out on the court and said some things, I’m definitely an example of that. I would get upset at an umpire and say something that really had nothing to do with the match. He had just gotten broken, and that’s a frustrating time. So, I get it and no hard feelings. I wish it had been handled in a different way. The best way is to talk to me, don’t go on the court and rant and rave about it. But I totally understand, being a competitor, he was in the heat of the battle.”
Rudd went on to defeat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 6-4 in the third round on Sunday and will play Nicolas Jarry, the No. 22 seed, in the Round of 16 on Tuesday.
Zverev, de Minaur, Khachanov advance
Joining them in the Round of 16 will be No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev, No. 9 Alex de Minaur, No. 11 Grigor Dmitrov, No. 15 Karen Khachanov, and unseeded Fabian Marozsan, who won their matches on Monday.
Zverev knocked off Christopher Eubanks, one of three American men who was left standing. Eubanks, 27, was a two-time All-American at Georgia Tech before turning pro. He is 6-7 and, like Zverev, known for his groundstrokes, but the German proved too strong and won 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.
Zverev had eight aces, 19 winners and three unforced errors.
“I was just hanging on, and sometimes that is just what you need to do,” Zverev said.
Khachanov beat Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5) in the first match of the day on the Grandstand court. Khachanov made the Miami Open semifinals last year before losing to eventual champion Daniil Medvedev.
Australian de Minaur beat Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6 (7-3), 6-4. Dmitrov cruised past Yannick Hanfmann 6-3, 6-2. And Marozsan of Hungary defeated Australian Alexei Popyrin 7-5, 6-3. De Minaur’s biggest win of his career came in January in Australia, when he stunned top-ranked Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-4 in the United Cup. Djokovic had won 44 matches in a row in Australia before that day.
Ben Shelton lost in straight sets to Lorenzo Musetti and Sebastian Korda lost to Hubert Hurcakz, leaving no American men in the draw.
