Match Report
Tsitsipas continues De Minaur dominance, upsets fifth seed in Miami
Greek improves to 12-1 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series
March 21, 2026
ATP Tour
Stefanos Tsitsipas is into the third round in Miami.
By ATP Staff
Stefanos Tsitsipas turned back the clock Friday at the Miami Open presented by Itau, where he delivered one of his sharpest performances in recent years to defeat a familiar opponent.
The 27-year-old upset fifth seed Alex de Minaur 6-3, 7-6(3) to advance to the third round at the ATP Masters 1000 event. With the victory, he extended his Lexus ATP Head2Head series lead to 12-1 against the Australian.
“There were moments in the match that felt really good,” Tsitsipas said. “I had to handle the nerves towards the end. It’s not easy having to handle moments and situations like this against Alex. He’s a very tough competitor, gets a lot of balls back, so I had to work quite hard for my points.”
Tsitsipas demonstrated an impressive serving display and thrived at crucial moments throughout his one-hour, 25-minute clash against the Australian. The Greek won 98 per cent (39/40) of the points on his first serve and saved both break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
“I like to say it’s skill. I wish that could happen in every match, that would be insane,” Tsitsipas said of his first-serve stats. “If I was able to maintain that in every match, I would be super happy.”
The victory marks the first time since his run to the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters quarter-finals last April that the former World No. 3 has secured back-to-back wins at the Masters 1000 level. It also comes at a crucial moment as he had slipped outside the Top 50 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings and is now up three places to No. 48.
The next test for the Greek will be a third-round meeting with Arthur Fils. Earlier on Friday, the Frenchman defeated #NextGenATP star Darwin Blanch 6-2, 6-3.