Miami: Bautista Agut beats Djokovic again, into quarters

Roberto Bautista Agut staged a stunning comeback on Tuesday at the Miami Open to oust top seed Novak Djokovic in the fourth round.

The Spaniard was shut out in the opening set – even forced to save a set point which would have handed Djokovic the opener 6-0 – before recovering to post a 1-6 7-5 6-3 victory.

The win sends him through to a quarterfinal meeting with defending champion John Isner, who earlier beat Brit Kyle Edmund in two tiebreaks to take his winning streak at the tournament to nine matches.

POSTCARD FROM MIAMI: Thomas Johansson

Bautista Agut also beat Djokovic in the season’s opening tournament in Doha – by a similar scoreline to their Miami match – before Djokovic went on to win the Australian Open.

Djokovic went up a set and a break against the Spaniard, and also earned two break points to take an early lead in the third set, but couldn’t convert.

Djokovic on IW and Miami: "I mean, just had, you know, way too many things off the court. I guess that affected me a little bit on the court. I didn't feel my best health-wise, as well, in Indian Wells and here. You know, still rusty, but, hey, look, you learn that's life."

— TennisNow (@Tennis_Now) March 27, 2019

“He’s a solid player. Congratulations to him definitely for a great comeback. But this kind of match I should not have lost,” Djokovic said.

“So many opportunities. Just way too many wasted opportunities. This is what happens when you don’t capitalise on time.”

After losing his first five meetings with Djokovic, Bautista Agut has now won three of the past five – the first coming back in 2016 on the hard courts of Shanghai.

In other results on Tuesday, Felix Auger-Aliassime continued his exciting run through the draw with a 7-6(4) 6-4 win over Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia.

#NextGenATP star @felixtennis , 18, d. [17] Basilashvili 76(4) 64 to become youngest @MiamiOpen quarter-finalist since @andyroddick, 18, in 2001. #Felix 1st qualifier to reach QFs in #MiamiOpen since Guillermo Canas in 2007 (l. to #Djokovic in final).

— ATP Media Info (@ATPMediaInfo) March 26, 2019

Auger-Aliassime, an 18-year-old qualifier from Canada, is through to his first ATP Masters quarterfinal and will next face 11th seed Borna Coric, who upended Australian Nick Kyrgios in three sets.

“I have been dealing with this (expectation and spotlight) for the past couple of years, so I think in a way that’s why I am able now to have these kind of results,” Auger-Aliassime explained to atptour.com.

“Because this extra pressure, this attention that I gave maybe last year or the year before to the outcomes, to the media, that’s a bit behind me now where I’m able really to stay in the present and really focus on what I have to do in the court, finding ways to win.

“That just keeps me going and just keeps me happy.”

Sixth seed Kevin Anderson also advanced after completing a 7-5 7-5 win over another Aussie in Jordan Thompson.