Djokovic says reclaiming top ranking not his goal anymore

Novak Djokovic said chasing the world number one ranking is not his main objective anymore and the 24-times Grand Slam champion will happily take major tournament victories over top spot in the twilight of his glittering career.

Djokovic has spent more than 400 weeks at number one and now sits fifth in the rankings, but the 37-year-old showed he cannot be written off and earned a record 411th ATP Masters 1000 match win on Sunday.

A 6-1 7-6(1) third round victory over Argentine lucky Camilo Ugo Carabelli at the Miami Open also put Djokovic a step closer to his 100th singles title and the Serbian said the top ranking did not matter as much.

"If it comes as a consequence of great results and titles that I win in a season, then that's amazing. But that's not my objective," Djokovic told reporters.

"My objective is to be able to play my best tennis at the Grand Slams and the tournaments where I participate. My schedule is revised, so obviously I'm not chasing ranking points.

"It's different nowadays, maybe, than it was a few years back (or) for most of my career, to be honest. I'm happy to win a Grand Slam and a big tournament rather than getting to number one. Right now that's more important for me."

Jimmy Connors with 109 and Roger Federer with 103 are the only men with more titles than Djokovic but he said climbing to the top of the list could be difficult.

"It would definitely be amazing to get to that record," Djokovic added. "Connors is someone that I truly admire and respect. He's always very supportive of me in public, I'm thankful for that. It would be amazing.

"But again, it's probably more difficult to achieve that nowadays for me than maybe it was some years ago. I'll go step by step. I'll see. I don't know how long I'm going to compete for. But I'm still enjoying myself when I play well."

Philippine wild card stuns Keys

Australian Open champion Madison Keys was dumped out of the Miami Open third round on Sunday, falling 6-4 6-2 to Philippine wild card Alexandra Eala, while Novak Djokovic earned a record-setting 411th ATP Masters 1000 level match win.

For 19-year-old Eala, the upset victory over the American fifth seed extended her dream run in Miami where she has now toppled two Grand Slam champions having beaten 2017 French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko in the second round.

"I am just in disbelief," she told Tennis Channel. "I knew I could win from the start but the chances were low given that she is a great player, but I think my belief and the trust I had in myself is what pushed me through."

Eala, who has trained at Rafa Nadal's academy in Mallorca since she was 13, required a medical timeout for what appeared to be a leg injury but was a force from the baseline against Keys, who reached the Indian Wells semi-final last week.

Up next for Eala, who has not dropped a set in Miami, will be Spanish 10th seed Paula Badosa.

Former champion Iga Swiatek earned a 7-6(2) 6-1 win over Belgian 27th seed Elise Mertens that made the Polish second seed the first player to reach the last 16 of a WTA 1000 event in 25 consecutive appearances.

Swiatek built a seemingly comfortable 5-2 lead in the first set but Mertens managed to claw back to 5-5 before the Pole ran away with the tiebreaker and breezed through the second frame.

"I'm happy that I got my level up in the tiebreaker to close it in two sets. Also in the second set I felt like I was playing good, big confidence," said Swiatek. "Yeah, overall I'm happy with the performance and how I worked through some issues."

Up next for Swiatek will be Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, who beat Czech 15th seed Karolina Muchova 6-2 3-6 6-2 and is looking to build on her run to the Indian Wells quarter-final where she lost to eventual champion Mirra Andreeva.