MIAMI — The Miami Open will go on without South Florida fan favorite Coco Gauff. The third-ranked American was eliminated 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 by No. 23 Caroline Garcia of France late Monday afternoon at Hard Rock Stadium.

Garcia had won their previous two matches in 2022 but had lost seven matches in a row to Top 10 players before Monday.

“It’s been a while, but I tried to stay positive,” Garcia said on center court after the win. “We had some very close games, she started playing stronger and faster, but I just tried to manage the match and I am very happy to be in the quarterfinals.”

Gauff knew going in that she is in for a tough matchup against Garcia.

“With Caroline, she is always a tough player to play, she takes the ball super early, plays very aggressive,” Gauff said Sunday. “I think the most recent time we played with the U.S. Open two years ago, maybe sooner. I think I lost to her the most recent time.”

Garcia beat Gauff twice at the end of the 2022 season, both times in straight sets. She won 6-3, 6-4 at the U.S. Open and 6-4, 6-3 at the WTA Finals. This will be Garcia’s first time in the Miami Open quarterfinals. She defeated Naomi Osaka in the previous round.

The first woman to reach the quarters was No. 9 Maria Sakkari of Greece, who advanced because of a walkover from No. 25 Anna Kalinskaya of Russia, who withdrew with a thigh injury.

In other women’s matches Monday, it was a good day for Kazakhstan as No. 4 Elena Rybakina eliminated American Madison Keys 6-3, 7-5 and Yulia Putintseva beat Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine 6-4, 7-6 (7-5). Also, former No. 1 Victoria Azarenka overpowered Katie Boulter 7-5, 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals.

In some men’s tournament news away from the court, Miami Open tournament director James Blake spoke with No. 7 seed Casper Ruud and his father, Christian, and smoothed things over after the younger Ruud, a former finalist in the event, was caught on camera harshly criticizing the tournament facilities during his second-round win over French teenager Luca van Assche over the weekend.

During one of the changeovers, the Norwegian ranted to the chair umpire, complaining that the “tournament is too cheap” to provide an adequate changing room for the players.

“There’s been no towels, no cold water, and just a plastic chair to change. This is a joke,” said Ruud, who was playing on one of the outer courts. “And you know why it is, because the tournament is too cheap to put up something good for the players. The players come here every year to play, to put on a show in front of tens of thousands of people and then they treat us like this.

“Go to trailer for five minutes in a room with nothing and just a plastic chair to change. Maybe they can put some towels, maybe some cold water for the players’ comfort. And it’s not your fault. I’m just saying how bad it is.”

When the umpire told Ruud he was unaware of the changing room setup, Ruud suggested he share his complaints with ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi and managing director Massimo Calvelli.

“No, I know you didn’t know but I’m telling you now,” Ruud continued. “And you have to take it on today to whoever is charge, Andrea, Massimo, whoever. Because every time the players complain, nothing happens.”

Blake, who knows Christian Ruud from their playing days, told the Miami Herald he could empathize with Casper blurting things out during the heat of a match and harbored no ill feelings. He also stressed that the tournament always does its best to give players first-rate amenities.

In this case, Blake said, the outer court changing room, which is just used for a few minutes to change during the match, was a trailer and because of the constant rain the previous 24 hours, some of the towels probably had not been restocked as they should have. But he said there was “tons” of cold water, room temperature water, towels, cold towels, fans, on the court.

“I think this is one instance where it definitely helps that I was a player because I recognize when something is said in the heat of battle and said to an umpire, and we live in a social media era where things get picked up and take on a life of their own,” Blake said of the video, which went viral.

“We’ve all had a bad day out on the court and said some things, I’m definitely an example of that. I would get upset at an umpire and say something that really had nothing to do with the match. He had just gotten broken, and that’s a frustrating time. So, I get it and no hard feelings. I wish it had been handled in a different way. The best way is to talk to me, don’t go on the court and rant and rave about it. But I totally understand, being a competitor, he was in the heat of the battle.”

Rudd went on to defeat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 6-4 in the third round on Sunday and will play Nicolas Jarry, the No. 22 seed, in the Round of 16 on Tuesday.

Joining them in the Round of 16 will be No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev, No. 9 Alex de Minaur, No. 15 Karen Khachanov, and unseeded Fabian Marozsan, who won their matches on Monday.

Zverev knocked off Christopher Eubanks, one of three American men who was left standing. Eubanks, 27, was a two-time All-American at Georgia Tech before turning pro. He is 6-7 and, like Zverev, known for his groundstrokes, but the German proved too strong and won 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.

Zverev had eight aces, 19 winners and three unforced errors.

“I was just hanging on, and sometimes that is just what you need to do,” Zverev said.

Khachanov beat Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5) in the first match of the day on the Grandstand court. Khachanov made the Miami Open semifinals last year before losing to eventual champion Daniil Medvedev.

Australian de Minaur beat Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6 (7-3), 6-4. And Marozsan of Hungary defeated Australian Alexei Popyrin 7-5, 6-3. De Minaur’s biggest win of his career came in January in Australia, when he stunned top-ranked Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-4 in the United Cup. Djokovic had won 44 matches in a row in Australia before that day.

Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, No. 9 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, No. 12 Grigor Dmitrov of Bulgaria and No. 17 Ben Shelton of the United States were among the men scheduled for later matches Monday, as were No. 1 Iga Swiatek and No. 5 Jessican Pegula on the women’s side.

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