Nick Kyrgios has crashed out of the Miami Open with a straight-sets fourth-round loss to Alexander Zverev.
Kyrgios succumbed 6-4 6-4 in his second straight loss to Zverev, having fallen to the German in Australia’s Davis Cup defeat in Brisbane in February.
Kyrgios made a subdued start to the match, seeming to be struggling with back discomfort early as he quikcly dropped five of the first six games.
But he roared to life to make Zverev serve out the opening set at his second time of asking.
A loose service game at 2-2 in the second, after he was broken from 40-15 up, left Kyrgios cursing himself – and there was no way back as the world No.5 booked a quarter-final clash with Croatian Borna Coric.
Coric edged Denis Shapovalov 7-6 (7-2) 4-6 6-4 in their battle of the young guns.
American John Isner upset second-seeded Croatian Marin Cilic 7-6 (7-0) 6-3 to book a meeting with South Korean Hyeon Chung, a 6-4 6-3 winner over Portugal’s Joao Sousa.
“I was in a very good serving rhythm today. I felt that really from my opening serve the whole match that I knew it was going to be a good serving day,” Isner said.
“I just was in a good rhythm and served much better than I did in my first two matches. I mean, percentage and aces and no double faults today. When I serve like that, I’m certainly tough to beat.”
Fifth-seeded veteran Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina defeated Filip Krajinovic 6-4 6-2 for his 14th consecutive victory.
The Serbian Krajinovic jumped out to an early lead in the first set when he managed a rare break of Del Potro’s serve and then held to take a 4-1 advantage in the pair’s first career meeting.
But Del Potro battled back, winning a marathon 10-minute game to take the first set before overpowering Krajinovic in the second to push his record to a career best 20-3 to start the year.
Milos Raonic’s serve was once again too much for France’s Jeremy Chardy to handle as the Canadian cruised to a 6-3 6-4 win.
Raonic, who has now won all seven of the pair’s matches, will face Del Potro in a rematch of their semi-final contest in Indian Wells, which the Argentine won en route to his first Masters 1000 title.
Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta crushed compatriot Fernando Verdasco 6-0 6-3 to reach the second Masters 1000 quarter-final of his career.
He will face either South African Kevin Anderson or 20-year-old American Frances Tiafoe, who completed his rain-interrupted 6-7 6-2 7-6 win over Tomas Berdych earlier on Tuesday.
