World number one Carlos Alcaraz won the Indian Wells Masters title earlier this month and the Spanish teenage sensation remains on course to claim the second leg of the Sunshine Double in Miami, where he is also the defending champion.

Alcaraz must retain the Miami title in order to stay top of the ATP rankings and he is set to lock horns with American ace Taylor Fritz in the quarter-final. 

The 19-year-old US Open champion defeated Tommy Paul 6-4 6-4 in the last-16 to extend his winning streak to nine matches and he is 20/21 to go on and claim further silverware at the Hard Rock Stadium. 

Victory over Fritz would see Alcaraz meet Emil Ruusuvuori or Jannik Sinner in the semi-final, while his biggest title challenge may come from Daniil Medvedev. 

The Russian fourth seed, who was beaten 6-3 6-2 by Alcaraz in the Indian Wells Masters final, takes on American qualifier Christopher Eubanks in his quarter-final. 

Medvedev could face either Karen Khachanov or Francisco Cerundolo in the last four and is 8/5 to clinch a fourth title of the year. 

Sinner expected to ease into last four

Having made the semi-final at Indian Wells last time out, 10th seed Sinner has a gilt-edged opportunity to repeat the feat in Miami. 

The Italian has eased past Laslo Djere, Grigor Dimitrov and Andrey Rublev in straight sets at the Hard Rock Stadium and he should also be too strong for Ruusuvuori, who has lost each of their last four rivalries, winning only one set along the way. 

Since losing in the last-16 of the Australian Open, Sinner has won silverware in Montpellier, finished runner-up to Medevev in Rotterdam and suffered a semi-final defeat to Alcaraz at Indian Wells. 

However, Finnish world number 54 Ruusuvuori is not the same calibre of opponent, meaning Sinner should be confident of stamping his authority on this quarter-final contest. 

The Monte Carlo resident is a short price at 1/8 for victory but that looks justified, while he is 1/2 to record a fourth straight 2-0 win. 

Alcaraz can showcase his title credentials

Alcaraz has gone from strength to strength since recording his breakthrough success at last year’s Miami Open and everything looks in replace for him to retain his crown. 

In winning the Indian Wells title last time out, the 19-year-old won all six of his matches in straight sets, not only making light work of Sinner and Felix Auger-Aliassime, but also ending Medvedev’s 19-game winning streak with a dominant 6-3 6-2 victory in the final. 

And the Murcia man has continued where he left off in Miami, recording straight-set victories over Facundo Bagnis, Dusan Lajovic and Tommy Paul. 

That means Alcaraz has lost only one of his 18 matches this year and that ought to spell trouble for Fritz, despite the American having home advantage and also playing well. 

Fritz has claimed two notable scalps in Denis Shapovalov and Holger Rune and, interestingly, this is a first competitive meeting between the pair. 

However, the Spanish superstar looks in irresistible touch and is understandably a short price at 3/10. But having won his last nine matches in straight-sets, a 2-0 win must appeal at 5/6. 

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Medvedev a cut above

Few would have expected American qualifier Eubanks to still be standing in the last eight of the Miami Open and the world number 119's reward for his efforts is a quarter-final clash with Medvedev. 

Eubanks' low ranking means he has had to win six matches to get this far but he has been somewhat fortunate with his draw. 

The American has had to beat only one player ranked inside the world's top 60 and will find things much tougher against Medvedev, who has lost only one of his last 22 matches. 

The Russian world number five took just over an hour to defeat Quentin Halys 6-4 6-2 in the last-16 and a similar performance would be expected against Eubanks. 

Bettors, therefore, may want to consider backing Medvedev to concede -5.5 games on the handicap at 1/1. 

Cerundolo and Khachanov could put on a show

Khachanov is a warm favourite to win his quarter-final clash with Cerundolo on the back of an impressive 7-6 6-4 win over Stefanos Tsitsipas, but the Argentinian is capable of pushing him all the way. 

The last-16 win over Tsitsipas looks good on paper but the Greek star is performing below his best and that was evident throughout the contest. 

Even so, Cerundolo has claimed two excellent wins over Auger-Aliassime and Lorenzo Sonego, which suggests this won't be a walk in the park for the Russian. 

These two met for the first time on a hard-court in Montreal last August and Khachanov prevailed narrowly 7-6 5-7 6-3. 

Cerundolo went the distance with Sonego in the previous round, too, and another three-set contest could be on the cards against Khachanov, which is available at 11/8.

bet365 News Team

• Daniil Medvedev
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