Australians James Duckworth and Alexei Popyrin have caused massive upsets at the Miami Open in the second round.
World No. 104 James Duckworth defeated world No. 13 David Goffin 6-3 6-1 in the biggest victory of his career in just under 80 minutes. While Popyrin, coming off his first ATP Tour crown at the Singapore Tennis Open, overcame 30th seed American Reilly Opelka 6-4 6-2.
"All of the hard work I've put in the pre-season is paying off, 11 wins in 14 matches," Popyrin told ATPTour.com. "I really thought I was consistent during the match. Putting in lots of returns is difficult when Reilly is firing down 230 km/h bombs."
Popyrin is set to elevate in the rankings and will reach a career high of 80 on Monday, and could surge even more if he can beat world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev in the third round.
Duckworth's win will more than likely push him into the top 100, with the victory being only his in a third Masters 1000-level ATP tournament.
Women's No. 2 Naomi Osaka survived a scare from Australian Ajla Tomljanovic, who pushed the star all the way in a tight clash.
It was Osaka's first clash since her win at the Australian Open and she struggled for parts of it in the 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 victory.
The Aussie was up 5-3 in the first set but Osaka managed to come up big in key moments.
"It's my first match since Australia and I was feeling a bit nervous so I just wanted to play well," Osaka said.
"I'm happy I was able to get it done in two. I'm not sure if it was nerves or just I'm a bit rusty but my decision making on some shots was kind of questionable.
"But I think overall I learned as the match was going on."
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