Photo : Mauricio Paiz
Denis Shapovalov had to dig deep on Saturday at the Miami Open, but he was able to hold his nerve and edge out qualifier Thiago Agustin Tirante of Argentina in three sets in their second-round battle. It was the Canadian’s first match at the Masters 1000 event after a first-round bye.
Leylah Annie Fernandez and Gabriel Diallo were not so lucky. Fernandez was bounced in her round-three clash with home favourite Ashlyn Krueger in straight sets, while Diallo suffered an ankle injury and retired in his match with Arthur Fils
What was shaping up to be a routine win for the Canadian when he led 6-3, 5-3, 40-love devolved into a nailbiter when Tirante saved three match points in the second set, forced a decider, and then rallied from a break down to stretch the match to a final-set tiebreak. In the end, Shapovalov’s big-match experience made the difference as he scraped out a 6-3, 6-7(1), 7-6(3) win to reach the third round.
It was a somewhat erratic performance from the Canadian, who won 75 per cent of his first serve points but double-faulted 11 times. He also had more than twice as many unforced errors (42) as winners (20), although his opponent was also deep in the negatives in that ratio (28 winners to 40 errors). Shapovalov ultimately won just two more points in the match.
After holding from love-40 down early in his second service game, the Canadian settled in as the set went along. Tirante was dominating on his own serve early on, losing just two points in his first three service games, but he fell apart at an inopportune moment. At 3-4, the Argentine netted a forehand to face a break point for the first time in the match and then sent another long to surrender the break. In the following game, Shapovalov served out the set to love.
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Tirante bounced back well, breaking for a 3-1 lead in the second set. But that seemed to wake up Shapovalov as the Canadian proceeded to go on a four-game run to turn the deficit into a 5-3 lead, one game away from victory.
Serving for the match at 5-4, it seemed to be over when Shapovalov went up 40-love, triple match point. However, a pair of spectacular winners from Tirante erased the first two match points and then the Canadian double-faulted to get back to deuce. The Argentine went on to break and level the set at 5-5.
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Seeing those match points slip away seemed to unnerve Shapovalov a bit. He lost his first two service points of the tiebreak as Tirante raced out to a 5-0 lead. The Argentine easily won the breaker to force a deciding set.
Shapovalov put the disappointment of not closing out the match behind him quickly in the third, breaking on his way to a quick 3-0 lead. But Tirante still was not going away and managed to claw his way back to 3-all.
It all came down to another tiebreak and this time it was Shapovalov grabbing a quick lead when Tirante sent a backhand long to go down 2-0. The Canadian never let him back into it, leading wire-to-wire and finally closing out the match on his fourth match point.
He is into the third round for the second Masters 1000 event in a row. He joins Félix Auger-Aliassime, who won his second-round match on Friday and will play his next one on Sunday.
Krueger Overpowers Fernandez Again
Leylah Annie Fernandez’s struggles with Ashlyn Krueger continued on Saturday in Miami as she lost for the second time in 2025 and third time in a row to the American. Krueger won their third-round clash in straight sets.
The Canadian managed to turn the match into a battle after a nightmare start but she was never able to gain an upper hand. Krueger did not drop serve in a 6-1, 7-5 win.
It was a very strong serving performance from Krueger, as she won 77 per cent of her first serve points. Fernandez only had two looks at a break in the match but could not convert either. The Canadian was broken four times on eight break points.
Fernandez held to open the match but that was the only positive for the Canadian in the opening set. The next six games in a row went to Krueger as she broke Fernandez three times.
The closest the Lavalloise came to snapping her opponent’s momentum came in the fourth game, right after being broken for the first time, when she managed to push Krueger to deuce but she never reached break point. The American only needed 34 minutes to take the opening set.
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Krueger nearly made it eight games in a row when she held to open the second and then had a break point in Fernandez’s first service game, but the Canadian dug in to hold and snap the run.
From there, the two settled in, exchanging routine holds until the late stages of the set. Fernandez faced a match point as she served to stay in it at 4-5 but saved it. She then had a 15-40 double break point chance in the following game to take a 6-5 lead, but Krueger’s serve remained impenetrable.
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That failure to break by Fernandez proved costly as she once again faced a match point on her own serve trying to stay in it at 5-6. This time, Krueger was able to convert to seal the win.
Fernandez was also defeated in her first-round doubles match on Saturday with Nicole Melichar-Martinez, as were Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe. As a result, no Canadian women remain in Miami.
Diallo Retires Against Fils
Gabriel Diallo found himself in a similar situation as he did two weeks ago in Indian Wells, facing off with Arthur Fils in the second round after losing in the final round of qualifying, getting into the main draw as a lucky loser, and winning his first-round match to set a round-two meeting with the Frenchman.
Unfortunately, this one came to an even more disappointing conclusion as Diallo was forced to retire with an ankle injury midway through the second set. Fils had won the first 6-4 and was serving at 2-3 when the Canadian appeared to take an awkward step and fell to the court. After receiving a medical timeout, Diallo was unable to continue.
Fils had jumped out to an early lead by applying pressure to the Diallo serve quickly in the opening set. He had his first look at a break in the third game but the Canadian wiped it away with a big serve. In his next service game, Diallo gave the Frenchman another chance by sending a forehand into the net at the end of a long rally to go down 30-40 and this time, he netted another forehand to surrender the break.
While Fils was not blowing Diallo away the way he had in Indian Wells two weeks ago, he was still finding ways to keep his nose in front. The Canadian had a chance to break back when Fils netted a forehand for 30-40 at 3-4, but a great backhand from the Frenchman set up a smash winner. He held in that game and managed to serve out the set in his next service game.
On serve at 3-2 in the second set, Diallo pulled up with an apparent ankle injury returning a Fils serve. He fell to the ground and was helped back to his chair where he received a medical timeout. When he tried to stand up to return to play, the visibly angry Canadian was barely able to put any weight on his foot and was forced to retire, throwing his wristbands to the court in frustration.
It was Diallo’s first appearance in Miami and he still walks away with a win over Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
