MIAMI GARDENS, Fla., March 23 (UPI) — Daniil Medvedev and Felix Auger-Aliassime became the latest victims in a series of shocking Top 10 upsets at the 2026 Miami Open on Monday.
No. 54 France’s Terrence Altman beat Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 on the Grandstand Court in Miami Gardens, Florida, at about the same time as No. 19 Argentina’s Francesco Cerundolo defeated Medvedev 6-0, 4-6, 7-5 at Hard Rock Stadium.
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With the losses, Medvedev and Auger-Aliassime became the fourth and fifth top-10 men’s players to withdraw from the tournament before the round of 16, excluding third-placed Novak Djokovic and fifth-placed Lorenzo Musetti, who both pulled out due to injury.
Sixth-ranked Australian Alex DeMinaur and ninth-ranked American Ben Shelton lost in the round of 64. Serendolo was inspired when 36th-ranked American Sebastian Korda also eliminated Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in the round of 32 on Sunday.
“I believe it, because if he does it, I can do it,” Cerundolo said of Coda’s 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 victory over Alcaraz.
No. 2 Yannick Sinner of Italy, No. 4 Alexander Zverev of Germany and No. 7 American Taylor Fritz were the only men still active in the top 10 in Monday’s early session.
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Cerundolo faced the 10th-ranked Russian for the first time in his career and got off to a hot start. The Argentine broke Medvedev’s first three serve games, handing him a 0-6 first-set loss for the second time in his ATP career. Medvedev fought back to win the second set but lost momentum in the setback.
“When I was up 6-0, I didn’t expect this,” Serendolo said. “I was playing really well, but he missed a lot. After that, things started to change a lot, but I kept fighting and kept believing.”
The Argentinian was clearly more reactive than his nemesis and struggled to stretch the pitch in search of a return ball throughout the 2 hours and 17 minutes of the game. He converted seven of 12 break point opportunities, hit 24 winners and made 36 unforced errors.
Medvedev successfully saved 4 out of 8 break points, including 15 winners and 41 unforced errors.
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Altman, ranked 53rd, only had three aces to Auger-Aliassime’s 11, but he amassed 26 winners against his Canadian opponent’s 15. He also managed to convert 2 of the 3 break points. He saved four of the six break points he faced.
Altman will face No. 20 Francis Tiafoe of the United States or No. 13 Jakub Mencic of the Czech Republic in the round of 16. Cerundolo will face No. 34 French player Ugo Humbert.
Third-ranked Poland’s Iga Swiatek was the first top-10 woman to withdraw from the Miami Open earlier than expected, losing to 50th-ranked Magda Linette in the round of 64 on Thursday.
On Sunday, seventh-ranked Italian Jasmin Paolini and eighth-ranked Ukrainian Elena Svitolina also withdrew from the top 32. Russia’s No. 10 Mira Andreeva lost to Canada’s No. 9 Victoria M’Boko at Miami Gardens on Monday, becoming the fourth top-10 female player to withdraw from the tournament.
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No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and Americans Coco Gauff (No. 4), Jessica Pegula (No. 5) and Amanda Anisimova (No. 6) were the other top 10 women competing on Monday night.
Sinner and Zverev will also compete in the men’s round of 32 at Hard Rock Stadium. The Miami Open women’s quarterfinals begin on Tuesday. The men’s quarterfinals begin on Wednesday. The women’s and men’s finals will be held on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
