If he reaches the last four of the Florida tournament, which he has never done before, the Russian will recover the place of world No.1 which he had occupied two weeks before returning it to Novak Djokovic on March 21.

Whether it is the Polish defending champion Hubert Hurkacz (10th in the world) or the South African Lloyd Harris (44th), his next opponent will have to worry.

Because even if he finds the surface too slow, the hard game specialist, winner of the last US Open and finalist of the last Australian Open, gave a demonstration to eliminate the American Jenson Brooksby (39th) 7-5, 6-1.

He seemed to be surprised at the start of the match, immediately conceding his face-off (0-2).

"At first, I couldn't find a solution. Then there was this crucial moment when he couldn't put his double break point into action. So I forced him to serve for the set and he broke. tense. And then I played better while his level dropped," explained the Russian.

Russian Daniil Medvedev against American Jenson Brooksby, in the round of 16 of the Masters 1000 in Miami, March 29, 2022 Megan Briggs GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Indeed, at 3-5 in the first set he lined up seven games in a row to clinch the first set and escape 3-0 in the second.

Zverev serene

Totally overwhelmed, Brooksby stopped the bleeding to come back to 3-1 before conceding the last three games and finally losing in 1h19.

The shock of the day opposes in the night session the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (5th) to the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz (16th).

The winner could end up on the road to Medvedev in the semi-finals.

Another qualifier, Alexander Zverev (4th) who calmly dismissed the Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis (97th) 6-4, 6-4.

"I wanted to shorten the exchanges. I returned his second ball well so I kept putting pressure on him and being aggressive," he commented.

German Alexander Zverev, winner of Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis, 6-4, 6-4, in the round of 16 of the Miami Masters 1000, March 29, 2022 Megan Briggs GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Finalist in 2018, the German had been eliminated as soon as he entered the competition in 2019 and 2021 (the 2020 edition had been canceled due to covid).

This time, he will face the Norwegian Casper Ruud (8th), winner of the Briton Cameron Norrie (12th) 6-3, 6-4, to try to climb into the last four.

"Good job"

If Kokkinakis was turned off by the solidity of Zverev, his volcanic compatriot, doubles partner and friend Nick Kyrgios (102nd) once again lost his nerves to make it easier for Jannik Sinner (11th) who won 7- 6 (7/3), 6-1.

Italian Jannik Sinner (l), winner of Australian Nick Kyrgios, 7-6 (7/3), 6-1, in the round of 16 of the Masters 1000 in Miami, March 29, 2022 Michael Reaves GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA /AFP

The two men should have already faced each other in the round of 16 in Indian Wells but the Italian, ill, had withdrawn.

This time, he was present and did not let himself be distracted by his opponent's antics.

"It wasn't easy mentally, but I did a good job!" admitted Sinner.

As the match hung on, Kyrgios began to argue more and more vehemently with the referee until he took a penalty point in the tie break of the first set, which gave three set points to Sinner.

The first was enough.

And at the change of sides that followed the loss of the set, Kyrgios again verbally attacked the referee before smashing his racket on his bag and then on the ground.

He then received a penalty game, thus offering the break to his opponent.

Australian Nick Kyrgios smashes his racquet during a change of sides, during his match against Italian Jannik Sinner, in the round of 16 of the Masters 1000 in Miami, March 29, 2022 Michael Reaves GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

The Australian continued to speak, more or less under his breath, at the risk of being disqualified.

He stayed on the court until the end, but faced with the solidity of the game and the mentality of his opponent, he bowed.

The Italian, finalist last year, will face Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo (103rd) for a place in the last four.

Among women, Tuesday offers the first two quarter-finals, including the duel between the Japanese Naomi Osaka (77th) and the American Danielle Collins (11th).

© 2022 AFP