Novak Djokovic’s pursuit of a record seventh Miami Open ATP title ended in dramatic fashion on Tuesday as Roberto Bautista Agut superbly recovered from a first set destruction to win 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 and book a place in the quarterfinals.
And the top seeds kept falling as women’s world number two Petra Kvitova slumped to a surprise 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 6-2 defeat to Australian Ashleigh Barty.
Bautista Agut, 30, may have beaten Djokovic on the way to winning the title in Doha earlier this year but 15-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic started like a train in this last 16 encounter before being amazingly reined back in.
The number 22 seed will now meet defending champion John Isner for a place in the semifinals. Big-serving Isner moved into the last eight with a 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/3) triumph over Great Britain’s Kyle Edmund.
Elsewhere there was a brilliant win for 18-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime, who came through qualifying, who beat Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili 7-6 (7-4), 6-4. Auger-Aliassime plays Borna Coric after the Croatian beat Nick Kyrgios 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
In the women’s draw, Barty, who beat Kvitova for the first time having gone into the clash 0-4, will play Anett Kontaveit for a place in Saturday’s final after the Estonian brought an end to Hsieh Su-Wei’s impressive run with a 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory to reach the last four in South Florida for the first time.