Jeremy Chardy outlasted Nicolas Jarry 6-7 (1), 6-2, 7-6 (5) as his quest for another lengthy run at the Miami Open began Thursday.
Chardy won 72 percent of his service points in the 2-hour, 34-minute affair. He only faced break point twice in the match while converting two breaks of his own.
Chardy rallied from 4-2 down in the third-set tiebreaker by winning four straight points before converting on his second attempt at match point.
Also beginning their runs at Miami on Thursday were two others to make it as far as the fourth round last year.
Joao Sousa and Filip Krajinovic pulled off straight-set sweeps over Chun Hsin Tseng and Pierre-Hugues Herbert, respectively.
Fresh off an upset of Stefanos Tsitsipas at Indian Wells two weeks ago, Felix Auger-Aliassime rallied past fellow qualifier Casper Ruud 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. Auger-Aliassime struck eight aces in the win.
Bernard Tomic will match up with Novak Djokovic on Friday after downing Thiago Monteiro 6-4, 6-1. Radu Albot will next face Roger Federer on Saturday after Matthew Ebden retired down 6-0, 3-2.
Damir Dzumhur recovered from a rough first set to beat Christopher Eubanks 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5). Dzumhur overcame a medical timeout for back pain in the third set.
"It was a good win at the end for me. I didn't have many wins this year. I was struggling with my confidence. I think in some matches I was playing good, but without confidence you cannot play. ... Today I was much better," Dzuhmhur said, according to the ATP website. "Matches like this ... they are giving you more energy, they are giving you a lot of confidence."
Straight-set winners on the day included Robin Haase, Jaume Munar and Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Lorenzo Sonego and Dan Evans.
Americans to fall in their first match included Tennys Sandgren and Taylor Fritz. Kazakhstani qualifier Alexander Bublik rallied past Sandgren 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (5), and Germany's Maximilian Marterer got the better of Fritz 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Article from Reuters
