Miami Open 2025 Day 8 Recap - Perfect Tennis

Day eight in Miami only featured one quarterfinal match as Novak Djokovic’s clash with Sebastian Korda was postponed until Thursday.

In the sole quarter-final played, Grigor Dimitrov battled past Francisco Cerundolo, coming through 6-7(6) 6-4 7-6(3) in 2 hours and 48 minutes.

With Sascha Zverev’s fourth-round match spilling over to Wednesday, it would have made sense to start the play earlier than 1 pm, but the organisers decided to put five matches on the stadium court. That meant by the time Djokovic was due to play, it was past 11 pm, and the ATP rules no longer permit a match to start after that time.

In the postponed encounter, Arthur Fils battled through back pain and a one-set deficit to topple top seed Alexander Zverev 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

Fils faced early trouble against Zverev. After dropping the first set and receiving treatment for a nagging back issue, his outlook looked bleak. He hit back to level, but at 1-3 in the decider, it looked like the top seed was progressing.

However, Fils shifted his tactics, killed Zverev’s rhythm and reeled off four straight games. Zverev wilted under pressure, and the 17th seed backed up his Indian Wells quarter-final with another appearance int he last eight.

Day Eight 2025 Miami Open Quarter Final Results

Winner
Loser
Scoreline

Grigor Dimitrov (14)
Francisco Cerundolo (23)
6-7(6) 6-4 7-6(3)

Dimitrov Outlasts Cerundolo

Grigor Dimitrov seems to find some extra juice in the tank in Miami, and he summoned every ounce of his veteran grit on Wednesday, saving a match point to outlast Francisco Cerundolo 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(3) and secure his 150th Masters 1000 match win,

The 33-year-old Bulgarian, a 2024 finalist, battled exhaustion and a fierce Cerundolo in a two-hour, 48-minute thriller.

Pre-match, I had Cerundolo as the winner as he’s been bang in form, and Dimitrov has had a bit of a slow start to the year with several mid-match retirements. That makes me skeptical of his ability to grind it out, especially when he’s had some tough earlier matches, so I was expecting a story similar to that of Indian Wells, where he runs out of gas.

After he squandered seven set points in the opener, including a 6/4 lead in the tiebreak and dumping a routine backhand volley into the net to hand Cerundolo the set, I thought my pick was correct.

But he hit back with steely resolve. The 14th seed shifted gears in the second, adopting a more aggressive baseline stance and going a perfect 8/8 on net points. He broke in the opening game, didn’t drop a single point on his first serve (11/11), and leveled the match with a mix of backhand slices and his trademark one-hander, dictating rallies with newfound consistency.

The decider pushed Dimitrov close to his limit. Trailing 0-3, he clawed back to improve only to see Cerundolo hold match point at 5-6. This time, the Argentine committed a simple error, sending a backhand return wide.

Dimitrov seized the lifeline, and in the third-set tiebreak, he struck first blood, firing a forehand winner, tumbling to the ground and nearly rolling his ankle in the process.

From there he held firm, dropping three points in the breaker to seal the win, collapsing in relief after the handshake. Visibly dizzy and assisted off the court by a tournament doctor and ATP physio, there was no on-court interview.

Next up: a blockbuster semi-final against either six-time champion Novak Djokovic or home hope Sebastian Korda. I don’t see how he holds up physically for that, but he proved me wrong last night, so we shall see.