Alcaraz Turns Away Fritz to Reach Semifinals in Miami

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in action against Taylor Fritz of the US during the Men’s Singles Quarterfinals of the 2023 Miami Open tennis tournament at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, US, 30 March 2023. (EPA)
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in action against Taylor Fritz of the US during the Men’s Singles Quarterfinals of the 2023 Miami Open tennis tournament at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, US, 30 March 2023. (EPA)
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Alcaraz Turns Away Fritz to Reach Semifinals in Miami

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in action against Taylor Fritz of the US during the Men’s Singles Quarterfinals of the 2023 Miami Open tennis tournament at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, US, 30 March 2023. (EPA)
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in action against Taylor Fritz of the US during the Men’s Singles Quarterfinals of the 2023 Miami Open tennis tournament at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, US, 30 March 2023. (EPA)

The hopes of American men’s tennis rest largely on the talented rackets of Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul.

But a Spanish roadblock named Carlos Alcaraz is in the way – never more illustrated by the last few days at the Miami Open.

Two days after routing the Australian Open semifinalist Paul, the top-ranked Alcaraz took his spectacular arsenal to the highest-ranked American man in No. 10 Fritz and blasted into the semifinals with a 6-4, 6-2 victory at Hard Rock Stadium.

Before a packed crowd that included John McEnroe and was split in support, Alcaraz broke Fritz’s serve in the first game. He used that one break to squeak out the first set and finished the match in a tidy 1 hour, 18 minutes. Alcaraz faced just two break points and turned away both chances as he improved his match record to 18-1 in 2023.

“I took the opportunity of every break point I had,” the Spaniard said. “I was solid and aggressive at the same time.”

This was the first meeting between the two and an opportunity for Fritz to assess how close he is to a breakthrough. The match was postponed Wednesday night, only delaying the inevitable.

“Obviously playing the best player in the world, you can’t just drop your serve to start both sets,” Fritz said. “He doesn’t give you much for free. ... All the important points in the match, he won.”

The 19-year-old Alcaraz proved too tough in Miami against two Americans who reside in South Florida. Fritz moved recently to Miami and Paul has lived in the Delray Beach/Boca Raton area for years.

Alcaraz will play Jannik Sinner in Friday’s semifinals, a rematch of their semifinal at Indian Wells, where Alcaraz went on to win the title.

The reigning US Open champion and defending Miami Open champion boasts a glorious drop shot, beautifully controlled groundstrokes and a sneaky net game. Alcaraz’s graceful court coverage is reminiscent of his countryman Rafael Nadal. There are no clear weaknesses, as Fritz found out.

Fritz had one moment to seize, gaining a break point against Alcaraz trailing 2-3, trying to get back on serve. Alcaraz saved the break point in fantastic fashion. Fritz initially made a lovely pop-up retrieve of a would-be winner, but Alcaraz boldly took a chance moments later, rushing to the net to convert a difficult low volley winner.

In an earlier quarterfinal of extreme height, No. 5 Daniil Medvedev ended the career-best run of 6-foot-7 American qualifier Chris Eubanks with a 6-3, 7-5 victory.

For all his accomplishments, the 6-6 Medvedev, who has won 22 of his last 23 matches, had never made the Miami Open semifinals.

It sets up an all-Russian semifinal Friday as he faces Karen Khachanov, who beat Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 6-2. Medvedev holds a 3-1 career advantage against his longtime friend.

“We are from the same age group,” Medvedev said. “I’m almost sure we know how the match is going to go and it’s a question of who’s going to make the best shot.”

Medvedev, who lost to Alcaraz in the final at Indian Wells, has garnered three ATP titles this year (Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai).

Eubanks, a 26-year-old former Georgia Tech star ranked 102nd, had never advanced to a quarterfinal of an ATP event of this level and had actor Jamie Foxx in the stands cheering him on.

“It’s been a dream week for me,” Eubanks said, noting Foxx has followed his career for “the past couple of years.”

Eubanks was on serve with Medvedev early, leading 3-2 before a brief rain delay. Medvedev came back roaring to win the next four games to close out the set. Eubanks said Medvedev made a “tactical change” after the delay, moving in on his second serve.

The other women’s semifinal was finally set with 15th seed Petra Kvitova advancing to face unseeded, 74th-ranked Sorana Cirstea, who beat Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday.

In a quarterfinal postponed by Wednesday night’s rain, Kvitova defeated No. 18 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Shaking off a rash of double faults in the second, Kvitova prevailed in the third, but she could be at a competitive disadvantage without a day of rest facing Cirstea. Neither Kvitova nor Cirstea will have an extra day to prepare for Saturday’s final.

The other semifinal had already been set with Elena Rybakina facing Jessica Pegula Thursday night in a battle of top-10 stalwarts.



Pele's Pain, Rooney's Rocket and Great Escapes: Everton Bids Farewell to Goodison Park 

A general view of Goodison Park stadium ahead of the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Liverpool, in Liverpool, England, Wednesday, Feb.12, 2025. (AP)
A general view of Goodison Park stadium ahead of the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Liverpool, in Liverpool, England, Wednesday, Feb.12, 2025. (AP)
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Pele's Pain, Rooney's Rocket and Great Escapes: Everton Bids Farewell to Goodison Park 

A general view of Goodison Park stadium ahead of the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Liverpool, in Liverpool, England, Wednesday, Feb.12, 2025. (AP)
A general view of Goodison Park stadium ahead of the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Liverpool, in Liverpool, England, Wednesday, Feb.12, 2025. (AP)

The "Grand Old Lady" of English soccer is about to bid farewell to the men's game.

Goodison Park, the long-time home of Premier League team Everton, has staged more top-tier games than any other stadium in England. It was where Pele was kicked to pieces before losing a World Cup match with Brazil for the only time. It was where eight English league titles were won, and where several nerve-shredding escapes from relegation in the Premier League were completed.

Everton will leave Goodison at the end of this season to move to a new 53,000-seat stadium at nearby Bramley-Moore Dock. Sunday's visit b Southampton marks the final game in the team's home of 133 years and the occasion will be marked by what Everton is calling an "End of an Era" ceremony afterward.

The stadium will continue to operate instead in the women's game, as the new home of Everton Women.

Goodison wasn't always Everton's home Goodison Park has been the home to eight of Everton's nine title-winning campaigns. The first came somewhere you might not expect.

Everton became a professional club and played its first Football League fixture at Anfield — now the storied home of neighbor Liverpool — from 1884-92. The club's first league title was won there in 1891, with Everton matches watched by crowds of up to 20,000.

But a dispute with Everton's then-chairman, who owned the land, pushed club officials to buy a field just across Stanley Park and build a new stadium — Goodison Park.

It opened in 1892, staged an FA Cup final two years later and, in 1924, hosted an exhibition baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and New York Giants on their world tour.

The architect Goodison Park is a celebrated example by the greatest architect of soccer's early years, Archibald Leitch.

The Scottish architect, who designed dozens of soccer and rugby venues in the early 20th century, started work at Everton with the Goodison Road stand in 1909. The huge construction was popularly compared to an ocean liner called the Mauretania.

The main Bullens Road stand is now 99 years old and still has the signature Leitch feature, crossed trusses on the upper-tier balcony.

What Leitch didn't build was another unique feature of Goodison Park — St. Luke's Church in one corner of the ground next to the Gwladys Street end that's home to Everton's noisiest fans.

Pele's World Cup troubles at Goodison

Pele played in 14 games at four different World Cups from 1958 to 1970 and lost only one: at Goodison.

Brazil was based at Goodison for its group-stage games in 1966 and the two-time defending champion's superstar was targeted for rough treatment. Pele scored in an opening 2-0 win over Bulgaria but was too injured to then face Hungary, which won 3-1.

Pele came back for a decisive game against Eusebio's Portugal and again was repeatedly fouled. Portugal won 3-1 and Brazil exited with the sad sight of Pele limping around the Goodison field.

Goodison hosted an epic quarterfinal — North Korea took an early three-goal lead before Eusebio scored four and Portugal won 5-3 — then a semifinal that controversially didn't involve England. FIFA, led by its English president Stanley Rous, switched the England-Portugal game to Wembley and Goodison instead hosted West Germany beating the Soviet Union. Fans in Liverpool were not impressed, calling it an "England fix."

Goodison was "the best stadium in my playing life," Eusebio said in 2009 on a return visit.

Goodison's greatest games

For many Everton fans, nothing quite tops the atmosphere that was generated in the stadium — often fondly referred to as the "Grand Old Lady" — when their team beat Bayern Munich and Lothar Matthäus 3-1 in the second leg of the European Cup-Winners' Cup semifinals.

The old stadium rocked with relief as much as joy when Everton came from two goals down to beat Wimbledon 3-2 on the final day of the 1993-94 season to stay in the Premier League, and again four years later after a final-round 1-1 draw with Coventry to stay up on goal difference.

A 16-year-old Wayne Rooney announced himself to the world when coming off the bench to score with a last-minute, long-range curler in off the bar to end Arsenal's 30-game unbeaten league run in October 2002.

And there was the final men's Merseyside derby at Goodison in February. James Tarkowski smashed a shot into the roof of the net in the eighth minute of stoppage time to secure Everton a 2-2 draw with Liverpool.

What's next?

Everton is moving to Bramley-Moore Dock on Liverpool's waterfront to start next season. The new stadium already staged test events, is slated to host a high-profile rugby league match between England and Australia on Nov. 1, and is a host venue for the men's European Championship in 2028.

The plan was for Goodison Park to be demolished but Everton's new owners — the Friedkin family from Texas — announced this week that the women's team, which plays in the top-flight Super League, will play there from next season, moving from its nearby current home in Walton Hall Park. Goodison's current capacity of nearly 40,000 will likely be reduced.

Which classic stadiums are left in the English men's game?

There aren't many around, with most clubs moving — often with a heavy heart — for financial reasons to bigger and more modern arenas.

The demise of Goodison will soon be followed by Manchester United building a new 100,000-seat stadium next to its Old Trafford home.

Over the last three decades, the likes of Manchester City (2003), Arsenal (2006), West Ham (2016) and Tottenham (2019) have moved into new grounds, while Wembley — the home of English soccer — was rebuilt and reopened in 2007.

Among the classic stadiums hanging on in there are Anfield, Villa Park (Aston Villa's home since 1897), St. James' Park (Newcastle, 1892), the City Ground (Nottingham Forest, 1898), Craven Cottage (Fulham, 1896), Hillsborough (Sheffield Wednesday, 1899) and Molineux (Wolves, 1889).