Miami Open 2025 Day 5 Recap – Perfect Tennis

Day 5 at the Miami Open saw Novak Djokovic break the all-time Masters 1000 wins record with a 6-1, 7-6(1) rout of Camilo Ugo Carabelli, while 38-year-old Gael Monfils fed off the crowd’s energy to outlast Jaume Munar in a 7-5, 5-7, 7-6(1) thriller.

The third round wasn’t short on surprises either; Sebastian Korda sent ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas packing, Francisco Cerundolo continued his Miami love affair with a win over twelfth seed Tommy Paul, and last year’s finalist Grigor Dimitrov dug deep to keep his campaigns alive with a win over Karen Khachanov.

Highlights and recap below.

Day Five 2025 Miami Open Round of 32 Results

Winner
Loser
Scoreline

Gael Monfils
Jaume Munar
7-5 5-7 7-6(1)

Sebastian Korda (24)
Stefanos Tsitipas (9)
7-6(4) 6-3

Lorenzo Musetti (15)
Felix Auger-Aliassime (18)
4-6 6-2 6-3

Novak Djokovic (4)
Camilo Ugo Carabelli (LL)
6-1 7-6(1)

Casper Ruud (5)
Alejandro Tabilo (30)
6-4 7-6(4)

Francisco Cerundolo (23)
Tommy Paul (12)
6-2 7-6(4)

Grigor Dimitrov (14)
Karen Khachanov (22)
6-7(3) 6-4 7-5

Brandon Nakashima (31)
David Goffin
6-3 6-7(5) 6-3

Djokovic Coasts Past Carabelli

Novak Djokovic had another routine day at the office on Sunday with a 6-1, 7-6(1) victory over Camilo Ugo Carabelli.

This was the Serbian’s 411th triumph at the Masters 1000 level, and he raced through the first set in just 29 minutes against the lucky loser Carabelli.

A break in the third game of the second set seemed to seal it, but the Argentine fought back, levelling the set and forcing a tiebreak.

Djokovic knows a thing or two about those, though, and he dialled up his game a notch, dropping just one point in a perfect breaker, backed by an 80% first-serve win rate.

Next up: Lorenzo Musetti, who battled past Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 to reach the fourth round for the second straight year.

After a two-hour, 26-minute grind, the World No. 16 Italian notched his first Top 20 win since October, converting four of 14 break points against the Canadian.

I’m honoured to have another milestone, another record broken. There’s always something on the line, pretty much every time I play, and of course that motivates me to do well at tournaments. I started off really well, 6-1, very similar to the first match two days ago. Things got complicated in the second. I broke his serve, he rebroke my serve, and then we were kind of going toe to toe. I had some chances at 4-4 but I think it was fair to take the second set to a tie-break. Then, like two days ago, a perfect tie-break. Great serving when I needed to, and overall just pleased to get through. Djokovic on his win.

Monfils Masters Munar

Gael Monfils continued his excellent start to 2025, battling through a two-hour, 37-minute clash against Jaume Munar, winning through 7-5, 5-7, 7-6(1).

Munar came in after taking out 7th seed Daniil Medvedev, and he looked poised to seal the upset when he served for the match at 6-5 in the decider. But Monfils, ever the showman, had other ideas. He broke back to love, igniting the crowd and flipping the momentum.

From there, the tiebreak was all Monfils; he dropped just one point en route to setting up a rematch with Sebastian Korda, who he edged 7-6(2), 7-6(4) in Indian Wells two weeks ago. Can he perform after so many hours on court this week?

I’ve played so many matches and I know it’s not easy to close out matches with a big atmosphere. If you win the first point, it’s key. I was fortunate enough to return down the line and come down to the net and I caught him. I knew at that moment, that point can be a game changer and it was. Crowd getting involved and then it’s pure experience and pure joy from my side as well. Monfils on his win.

Other Matches of Note

Sebastian Korda sent ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas packing in a 7-6(4), 6-3 victory to record his best win in a while after several injuries.

Tsitsipas, who’d battled back from a set down against Chun-Hsin Tseng in the previous round, headed into the Sunshine Double off the back of the Dubai title, but he’s struggled in North America.

The first set was a tight affair, with Korda relinquishing a break of serve before bringing out his precision in the tiebreak, highlighted by a searing backhand down the line.

From there, the 24th seed found his rhythm, breaking Tsitsipas twice in the second set to lead 4-0, and although he couldn’t consolidate the second break, he held firm from there on.

Fifth seed Casper Ruud kept his Miami campaign on track, overcoming 30th seed Alejandro Tabilo 6-4, 7-6(4) in a match that featured just one break of serve.

Ruud, who’d battled past Miomir Kecmanovic in the previous round, started strong, breaking Tabilo early in the first set with a series of punishing forehand winners.

The Chilean, coming off a hard-fought win over Corentin Moutet, fought back in the second set, forcing a tiebreak with his crafty lefty game. But Ruud’s experience shone through, as he saved all three break points he faced and closed out the breaker with a deft volley.

The Norwegian, a 2022 Miami finalist, advances to face Francisco Cerundolo, the man he beat in that year’s semi-final after he defeated Tommy Paul. Cerundolo always plays well in Miami, and beating Tommy Paul 6-2, 7-6(4) is impressive.

The Argentine dominated the first set, breaking Paul twice with his heavy baseline game. The second was a break fest, with both players losing their serve three times before Cerundolo captured the tiebreak.

Grigor Dimitrov outlasted Karen Khachanov in a 6-7(3), 6-4, 7-5 marathon, keeping his hopes of another deep Miami run alive.

The 14th seed, a 2024 finalist, dropped the first set in a tiebreak but turned the tide in the second, breaking with a well-worked point.

The decider was a tight affair until Dimitrov’s all-court versatility got him the break at 5-5; Dimitrov now faces Brandon Nakashima.

Highlights

Miami Open 2025 Day 6 Round of 32 Matches