Russian Daniil Medvedev reacts during a loss to Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina in the Round of 32 at the 2026 Miami Open on Monday in Miami Gardens, Fla. Photo by Cristobal Herrera-Ulashkevich/EPA
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla., March 23 (UPI) — Daniil Medvedev and Felix Auger-Aliassime on Monday became the latest victims in a stunning string of Top 10 upsets at the 2026 Miami Open.
No. 54 Terence Atmane of France upstaged Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 on the grandstand court in Miami Gardens, Fla., at nearly the same time No. 19 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina beat Medvedev 6-0, 4-6, 7-5 at Hard Rock Stadium.
With the losses, Medvedev and Auger-Aliassime became the fourth and fifth Top 10 men’s players to exit the tournament before the Round of 16, not including No. 3 Novak Djokovic and No. 5 Lorenzo Musetti, who withdrew before play because injuries.
No. 6 Alex de Minaur of Australia and No. 9 Ben Shelton of the United States lost in the Round of 64. No. 36 Sebastian Korda of the United States also ousted No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain on Sunday in the Round of 32 providing inspiration for Cerundolo.
“I believed, because if he did it, I also could do it,” Cerundolo said of Korda’s 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 win over Alcaraz.
No. 2 Jannik Sinner of Italy, No. 4 Alexander Zverev of Germany and No. 7 Taylor Fritz of the United States were the lone Top 10 men’s players still active through Monday’s wave of early matches.
Cerundolo, who faced the 10th-ranked Russian for the first time of his career, rocketed off to a sizzling start. The Argentine broke Medvedev’s first three serves to hand him just the second 6-0 first-set loss of his ATP career. Medvedev fought back to win the second set, but ran out of steam in the setback.
“When I was 6-0 up, I didn’t expect it,” Cerundolo said. “I was playing really good, but he was missing a lot. After that, things started to change a lot, but I kept fighting and kept believing.”
The Argentine was noticeably more reactive than his favored foe, who struggled to stretch the court in pursuit of returns in the 2-hour, 17-minute match. He converted 7 of 12 break point opportunities and fired 24 winners and logged 36 unforced errors.
Medvedev converted 4 of 8 break point chances, with 15 winners and 41 unforced errors.
Atmane, ranked No. 53, fired just three aces, compared to Auger-Aliassime’s 11, but amassed 26 winners against his Canadian foe’s 15. He also converted 2 of 3 break point chances. He saved 4 of the 6 break points he faced.
Atmane will meet No. 20 Frances Tiafoe of the United States or No. 13 Jakub Mensik of Czechia in the Round of 16. Cerundolo will take on No. 34 Ugo Humbert of France.
No. 3 Iga Swiatek of Poland was the first Top 10 woman to exit the Miami Open earlier than expected when she dropped her Round of 64 match Thursday to No. 50 Magda Linette.
No. 7 Jasmine Paolini of Italy and No. 8 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine followed suit Sunday with Round of 32 exits. No. 10 Mirra Andreeva of Russia became the fourth Top 10 woman to leave the tournament when she lost to No. 9 Victoria Mboko of Canada in a Round of 16 clash Monday in Miami Gardens.
No. 4 Coco Gauff of the United States advanced Monday afternoon with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 triumph over No. 35 Sorana Cirstea of Romania.
No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and Americans Jessica Pegula (No. 5) and Amanda Anisimova (No. 6) are among the other Top 10 women’s players in action Monday night.
Sinner and Zverev also will take part in Round of 32 men’s matches on the Hard Rock Stadium campus. The Miami Open women’s quarterfinals will start Tuesday. The men’s quarterfinals will start Wednesday. The women’s and men’s finals will be held Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
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