Two-time Miami Open winner Andy Murray was one of three British players to progress to the next stage of the singles competition during Saturday's rain-affected contests.
The 36-year-old's contest with 29th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry had momentarily fallen victim to the inclement weather at 3-3 in the first set, but Murray established control of the contest with an exceptional serving display upon the restart.
Coming up with 10 aces throughout the match and saving each of the seven break points he faced, Murray prevailed 7-6[0] 6-3 in two hours and 17 minutes against the 29th seed, who bowed out despite only suffering one break of serve.
At the end of an incredibly tight first set, Murray closed out a tie-breaker bagel with a 114mph ace before breaking in the sixth game of the second set for a 4-2 advantage, and he battled back from 30-40 down in the seventh with a terrific trio of consecutive aces.
The former world number one's exemplary resilience also came to the fore while he was serving for the contest, saving three more break points at 40-0 down and taking his first match point to set up a third-round affair with Tomas Machac.
It's all over for Draper in Miami 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/rYnrnntmL1
— Sky Sports Tennis (@SkySportsTennis) March 23, 2024
Joining ex-British number one Murray in the last 32 of the men's singles is current British number one Cameron Norrie, who emerged triumphant against Italian 21-year-old Flavio Cobolli 7-5 6-7[4] 6-2, despite missing two match points in the second set.
Darkness descended onto the duo as their two-hour and 34-minute encounter continued into the night, as Norrie broke twice in the second set - including for a 5-3 lead - only for his youthful foe to respond on both occasions.
Cobolli then saved two match points to claw his way back to 5-5, but mistakes began to creep into the Italian's game during the decider, where Norrie broke twice for a 5-2 advantage and clinched a final hold to love to join Murray in round three.
A blockbuster tie with defending champion Daniil Medvedev awaits Norrie in the last 32, but Jack Draper and Dan Evans will not be present in the third round owing to agonising defeats on Saturday.
Despite fighting back from a set down in a marathon encounter with Chile's Nicolas Jarry, which lasted three hours and 35 minutes, Draper was beaten 6-7[5] 6-4 6-7[2] by the South American.
Massive win 🔥@katiecboulter is into the last 16 in Miami for the first time in her career!#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/HY6ZwQyYgf
— wta (@WTA) March 24, 2024
The 22-year-old had a chance to serve for the match at 5-4 up in the final set, but Jarry earned an imperative break back and dominated the tie-breaker in a contest where a massive 38 aces were registered, 20 of which were from Draper.
Similarly, a second-set Evans fightback against Christopher Eubanks was in vain as the Briton went down 6-7[3] 6-3 6-7[7] to the 31st seed, who smashed 21 aces past Evans and prevailed despite not earning a single break in the match.
However, Katie Boulter's remarkable 2024 campaign continued in the women's singles third round, where the British number one made light work of 11th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia in a 6-2 6-3 victory.
Boulter had already overcome the Brazilian at last month's San Diego Open, where she won her first and only WTA Tour crown to date, although she had to come from a set down to succeed on that occasion.
This time around, though, Boulter needed just 90 minutes to get the job done against Haddad Maia, who failed to recover after being broken in the first game of both sets and sent a forehand wide on Boulter's second match point.
Through to the last 16 of a Masters tournament for the first time in her career, the 24th seed will now pit her wits against Belarus' former world number one Victoria Azarenka for a place in the quarter-finals.
Ben Knapton
