The Japan Times - Zverev in bright start, wildcard Wong ousts Shelton

Zverev's title hopes received a boost on Friday when second-seed Carlos Alcaraz crashed out with a shock defeat to Belgian veteran David Goffin.

With no Jannik Sinner while the Italian serves a doping ban, the German Zverev's main challenger, on paper, should be Novak Djokovic.

Zverev lost his opening game at Indian Wells but looked sharp on his debut on the South Florida stadium court.

"I'm generally happy with my level today," said Zverev, the 2018 Miami finalist. "

In Indian Wells it was very different, so I hope I can continue playing this way and have a great week here," he said.

The 27-year-old took 74 minutes to take care of business against Fearnley and said his extra time off as a result of his surprise defeat to Tallon Griekspoor had been valuable.

"I had to start thinking about my game again, thinking about how can I improve and how can I get better?" he said.

"Had two weeks time to practice and work on my game again and I did that - hopefully this is the first of many matches for me here," he added.

There was an upset for 13th seeded Ben Shelton, the third ranked American who was knocked out by 20-year-old wildcard Coleman Wong of Hong Kong.

Wong, 128th in the world, battled his way to a 7-6 (7/3) 2-6, 7-6 (7/5) victory despite letting a slip a 5-2 lead in the final set.

His victory provides him with a place in the third round of a Masters 1000 for the first time in his career.

"I always trust myself to play in these big stages… I had a tough time [during] the COVID times. I didn't play for a year and a half and I'm really lucky my team keeps supporting me. I'm really happy and this is for you Hong Kong," said Wong.

In the women's draw, top seed Aryna Sabalenka moved into the fourth round after Romanian opponent Elena-Gabriela Ruse had to retire after the Belarusian won the first set 6-1.

Ruse received some medical treatment on her right thigh but was unable to continue.

Ons Jabeur of Tunisia also retired allowing sixth-seed Jasmine Paolini to go through -- the Italian was 4-3 and a break up in the first when Jabeur could not longer continue due to a left leg injury.

K.Yoshida--JT