Miami, March 25 (IANS) Frances Tiafoe entered his fifth ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final and his first since Cincinnati in 2024 after beating Terence Atmane 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 at the Miami Open.

For the second straight match, Tiafoe, 28, pulled a Houdini. On Monday, he saved two match points in his three-set victory over defending champion Jakub Mensik, and on Tuesday he was down serving 0-40, 4-4 in the third set against Atmane before achieving the critical break of serve at 4-5.

“I did a lot of work in being comfortable being uncomfortable, and I put myself in those positions often,” Tiafoe said of his late escape.

“It’s like when you’re running a bunch of sprints, you’re not thinking about the 15 more you’ve got to do. You think about the one ahead. And so that’s kind of where I was at.

“Down 0/40, worry about 0/40, down 15/40, worry about 15/40, and so on and so forth. Ultimately, just be where your feet are,” he added.

The victory set up a quarter-final showdown on home soil against Jannik Sinner for Tiafoe, who holds a 1-4 ATP Head-to-Head record against the Italian.

Elsewhere, Alexander Zverev disposed of the Frenchman Quentin Halys with a victory after a pair of tiebreakers, 7-6(4), 7-6(1).

The 2018 Miami finalist has now reached the quarter-finals or better in six of the past seven ATP Masters 1000s; he’s also advanced to the quarters at both Indian Wells and Miami in the same season for the second time (2024), ATP reports.

By beating the world No.111 Halys, the German extended his winning streak against players outside the Top 100 to 16 matches, dating back to 2024.

Next up for Zverev is Francisco Cerundolo, who advanced to his fourth Miami quarter-final in five tries with a 6-4, 6-3 win against Ugo Humbert.

–IANS

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