Miami Open maladies – event sees back-to-back retirements on Stadium Court
Fans with tickets to the Miami Open Stadium Court on Wednesday may want their money back after back-to-back showpiece matches finished in early retirements.
First up came a women’s quarter-final between 2021 Indian Wells champion Paula Badosa and American world number 21 Jessica Pegula.
However, after Badosa had struggled physically in her last 16 match, the Spaniard was forced to retire down 4-1 against Pegula due to illness, tweeting soon after that she “tried everything to recover but wasn’t enough.”
So sorry I had to retire today. Been struggling with illness since the last match the other day. Tried everything to recover but wasn’t enough. I’ll take some days to recover well and prepare for clay court season. Thank you ?
— Paula Badosa (@paulabadosa) March 30, 2022
Next on court, 2021 Miami Open finalist took on Masters 1000 debutant and surprise quarter-finalist Francisco Cerundolo for a place in the men’s semi-finals.
After Sinner himself went down 4-1 to the Argentinian he called it a day, with reports coming out later that the retirement was due to foot blisters.
Cerundolo told Tennis Channel after the match: “Suddenly we shook hands so I was like ‘what happened?’
“I didn’t know what was wrong with him.
“So, I wish him a speedy recovery, he’s a great player, a great person.”
A turn of events.
Jannik Sinner was forced to retire due to foot blisters. @FranCerundolo was leading 4-1 in the first set when Sinner called the match after 23 minutes.
Get well soon! @janniksin @MiamiOpen | #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/UC1zguVNaE
— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 30, 2022
The victory meant Cerundolo became the lowest-ranked Miami Open men’s singles semi-finalist in tournament history, on his Masters 1000 main draw debut no less.
He entered the tournament ranked 103rd in the ATP rankings.
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