World No 1 Carlos Alcaraz thrashes Facundo Bagnis to advance at the Miami Open

Carlos Alcaraz earned a straight sets victory at the Miami Open on Friday to maintain his ranking as world No. 1 over the inactive Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic is not participating in the Miami Open because he is not yet able to travel to the United States as a foreign national who has not been vaccinated against COVID-19.

The 19-year-old Alcaraz, who defeated Casper Ruud in the 2022 US Open final for his first ranking at No. 1, defeated Facundo Bagnis 6-0, 6-2 to advance to the third round.

Rafael Nadal dropped out of the top 10 on Monday for the first time in 18 years. Alcaraz, a 19-year-old Spaniard, moved up to that spot one day after ending Daniil Medvedev’s 19-match winning streak by beating him in straight sets in the final in Indian Wells, California.

No. 1 American and No. 9 seed Taylor Fritz began his tournament campaign with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Emilio Nava. Fritz is 17-1 in his first rounds of hard-court tournaments since early 2022, with his lone loss coming at the 2022 US Open to No. 303 Brandon Holt.

Fritz will next face No. 24 Denis Shapovalov, who defeated Guido Pella on Friday.

Tommy Paul also advanced in the tournament after defeating Marc-Andrea Husler 5-7,6-3, 6-4.

On the women’s side, Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 US Open champion, came from a set down to defeat No.7 seed Maria Sakkari, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.

Andreescu improved to 2-1 over Sakkari, with both wins coming in Miami. Andreescu will face Sofia Kenin in the third round.

No. 5 Caroline Garcia lost to Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-3. Cirstea defeated Garcia 10 days ago in the fourth round in Indian Wells, and now she will face Karolína Muchová.

In other action, Varvara Gracheva defeated No. 4 Ons Jabeur 6-2, 6-2; and Jannik Sinner defeated Laslo Dere 6-4, 6-2.