Croatian second seed Marin Cilic survived a tough examination by Canadian Vasek Pospisil to reach the fourth round of the Miami Open with a 7-5 7-6(4) victory after nearly two hours on Sunday.
But the tournament, with world number one Roger Federer already ousted, lost another highly-ranked player when Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, the third seed, was taken down 6-4 6-4 by Frenchman Jeremy Chardy.
Indian Wells champion Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, the fifth seed, was more fortunate, winning his 13th consecutive match by defeating Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-2 6-2, according to a Reuters report Monday.
The big-hitting Cilic fired six aces and saved all three break points he faced against Pospisil, but the 77th-ranked Canadian made it more difficult than the Croat probably expected.
Trailing 5-6 0-40 in the second set, the Canadian saved three consecutive match points and hit a running forehand pass to cap a 33-shot rally before Cilic claimed victory in the tiebreak.
Meanwhile, Del Potro fired 17 winners, claiming all five points when crashing the net and turned back Nishikori’s lone break chance to take the match in 72 minutes.
The fifth seeded Argentine will face Filip Krajinovic in the fourth round on Tuesday after the Serbian defeated Frenchman Benoit Paire 6-3 6-3.