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Top-ranked Iga Swiatek, U.S. Open champ Coco Gauff knocked out of Miami Open

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Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Iga Swiatek, of Poland, returns a shot from Ekaterina Alexandrova, of Russia, during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Monday, March 25, 2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. โ€“ Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff have been knocked out of the Miami Open.

Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2 on Monday night, hours after the third-seeded Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2.

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In the menโ€™s draw, top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the round of 16 with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Gael Monfils.

Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6(1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarterfinals.

Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since.

โ€œWe played quite a few times before and sometimes it was three sets,โ€ Alexandrova said. โ€œI think sometimes I was quite close to it, but still far away. Winning against her, of course it feels great. Iโ€™m not sure if itโ€™s a surprise or not, but I just worked quite hard on the court and it paid off.โ€

Swiatek rallied from a set down and beat Linda Noskova a day earlier. Against Alexandrova, she struggled.

โ€œDisappointed for sure because I thought I was going to play better here in Miami,โ€ Swiatek said. โ€œBut she played an amazing match and for sure, she was the better player out there today. Her serve, I had a had time reading it. I got a little bit tense when I couldnโ€™t return well.โ€

Garcia defeated her second straight Grand Slam champion to reach Miamiโ€™s quarterfinals. She ousted four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka 7-6 (4), 7-5 on Sunday.

Garcia said it had been a while since she had a victory over a top-10 opponent like Gauff.

โ€œYou keep working and trying to stay positive about whatโ€™s coming, that itโ€™s going to pay off,โ€ she said. โ€œSometimes, itโ€™s very hard. But Iโ€™m lucky enough to have very good people behind me to help me and stay positive when Iโ€™m struggling.โ€

โ€œIt means a lot to have this little reward and keep going in the tournament,โ€ she said.

Also moving into the quarterfinals was No. 4 seed Elena Rybakina, who defeated 17th-seeded American Madison Keys 6-3, 7-5.

Rybakina will next face No. 8 seed Maria Sakkari, who advanced to her second Miami Open quarterfinal when Anna Kalinskaya, seeded 22nd, withdrew with a right thigh injury.

Victoria Azarenka, whoโ€™s won the Australian Open twice, made the quarterfinals with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Katie Boulter.

Yulia Putintseva also advanced, defeating No. 27 seed Anhalina Kalinina straight sets, 6-4, 7-6 (5), and No. 5 seed Jessica Pegula beat Emma Navarro 7-6 (1), 6-3.

Alcaraz will next face Lorenzo Musetti, who beat Ben Shelton 6-4, 7-6 (5).

Alexander Zverev, the fourth seed, defeated Christopher Eubanks 7-6 (4), 6-3, and No. 9 seed Alex de Minaur beat Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6 (3), 6-4.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis