Djokovic and Murray setup @MiamiOpenTennis ATP final on Friday, Serena wins WTA title on Saturday Esam Taha for Tennis Atlantic
Photo Credit: Esam Taha
On Friday Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray setup their second straight head-to-head showdown for a Masters title with wins over John Isner and Tomas Berdych, while Serena took out Carla Suarez Navarro for yet another WTA title in a blowout final.
Friday
Novak Djokovic d. John Isner 7-6(3) 6-2
Novak was not having his best tournament in terms of performance entering the semifinal clash with John Isner. There was a sense that he needed a solid showing here going into the final. The good news for Djokovic was that he had just beaten Isner in Indian Wells a couple of weeks ago in straight sets. Having said that Isner was playing much better now and the Serb wasn’t looking as sharp. Isner so far has had an impressive run down in Miami, beating Dimitrov, Raonic, and Nishikori back to back to back. Big John has been serving absolutely lights out and was full of confidence going into his clash with the world #1.
The crowd gathered for the highly anticipated night session semifinal as the two semifinalists started their pre-game warmup. Right off the bat Djokovic looked much more focused than he did all tournament with a solid service game to kick things off. It seemed like Isner would easily hold as well going up 40-0, however Novak would fight back to deuce things up. Early on Djokovic was getting his racket on most of Isner’s serve, his superior returning skills were on full display. Isner would hit a sweet volley to avoid a breakpoint and eventually blast an ace down the T to hold after the mini-battle. Isner’s forehand looked powerful early on, he went all out on it on virtually every shot. He’d get a nice return winner but follow that with a forehand to the bottom of the net Novak held to take us to 1-2 in the 1st. As much heat Isner packed in that forehand, once the rally got going the gap in consistency between the 2 would show itself.
Novak’s defense and returning were top notch, as they need to be when playing John, on one occasion he’d force the latter to hit 3 overheads on a single point. The Serb would force deuce again on Isner’s serve but the big server would find a way out without facing breakpoint. Meanwhile the world #1 was getting little resistance from Isner on his service game, the Serb was serving pretty well himself. At 2-3 both players would really hit their stride with easy holds to take us to 3-4 in the 1st. One issue with Isner up to that point was his 1st serve percentage, which was hovering around 60%. That won’t cut it against the best returner in the game. Isner would follow a couple of bad misses with back to back aces down the T to level things at 4-4 as Novak just shook his head at the monster serves. The roles would be revered the next game. Isner would finally put some pressure on Novak’s serve following a long baseline exchange which the American somehow won coupled with an inside out return winner, much to the crowd’s delight. Novak would then give Isner a taste of his own medicine firing back to back aces to dig out of the 0-30 hole and hold. With Isner under some pressure serving at 4-5, he’d show zero nerves as he blasted a forehand winner followed by a 136 MPH heater down the T. Novak would continue his good serving to go up 6-5, the Serb had 5 aces to Isner’s 6 thus far. After Isner goes up 40-0 he would tighten up falling all the way back to face the first break point of the match. Big John would show good composure as he hit a clutch overhead followed by a 128 MPH well-placed ace to force a tiebreak.
Isner played well until the first set tiebreak (photo credit: Esam Taha)
Despite the missed opportunity the world #1 was determined, immediately jumping on Isner’s 2nd serve to go up a mini-break. It was all Novak in that tiebreak, Isner probably wished he gotten more 1st serves in during that TB as Serb had a beat on the American’s kicker. With a little over an hour in the books, Novak stroked the cross court backhand winner to claim the 1st set 7-6(3).
Djokovic brimmed with confidence going into the 2nd set, forcing triple breakpoint early on at 1-1. The Serb was really starting to look unplayable as he broke with ease, the American had a mountain to climb down a set and break. One big adjustment Isner had to adapt to is Novak’s superior serving compared to Nishikori in the quarterfinal matchup. The world #1 played like a world #1 that 2nd set, he consolidated with ease before forcing another double break point already up 3-1. A low biting slice would be almost impossible for Isner to get down to and slice back, the Serb was now in total control up a couple of breaks at 4-1. Novak was also out-aceing Isner 10-8, pretty much summed up how the match had gone.
Djokovic did well handling the Isner serve (photo credit: Esam Taha)
Djokovic would bring the crowd to their feet as he was on full stretch to retrieve an inside out forehand before passing John with ease. Novak was the definition of locked in. At 5-2 Djokovic would have no trouble serving out the match to a huge ovation from the crowd. This was exactly the sort of performance he needed going into the final given how he had played up to that point.
Andy Murray continued his good run of play on his home court effectively, as he beat Tomas Berdych yet again 4 and 4. Murray broke early in the first at both 1-0, a break he couldn’t consolidate, and 1-1, and after that he cruised through the first set without facing another break point the rest of the set. Set 2 was groundhog day, as just like set 1, Murray broke for 1-0, got broken back, and then broke again for 2-1, and held his serve the rest of the way without facing another break point. In the final game of the match, he held serve from 0-30 to take it on his lone match point. Statline wise, Murray’s 70% first serve number and 80% of first serve points won were the main marker as to why he was too difficult to beat, as Berdych failed to do enough on his opponents serve to cause trouble, while Murray was a superior returner on his opponents serve.
After Murray was blown out by Djokovic in Indian Wells, it’s going to be a tough task to upset him in Miami, but we’ll see what happens on Sunday.
Makarova/Vesnina and Hingis/Mirza setup the WTA doubles final with routine wins in the doubles semifinals over Hlavackova/Hradecka, and Babos/Mladenovic respectively.
From the time she stepped on court, Carla Suarez Navarro lacked both the belief, and the raw ability needed to beat an in-form Serena Williams, and thusly Serena entirely dominated proceedings and won in less than a hour. CSN only won 5 points in the second set and Serena has yet to lose a match this season, as the world number 1 is again dominating the WTA tour. The 33 year old Williams has won 8 WTA Miami titles and has won the title 3 times in a row at the Crandon Park Tennis Center. CSN can still be pleased with her week however as she will enter the top 10.
In a burgeoning ATP doubles rivalry, the veteran Bryan brothers beat younger upstarts Jack Sock and Vasek Pospisil to win their fourth Miami title, and an incredible 105th title overall (33 Masters titles). The Bryans dominated on serve in the first set but they would lose control of the match in the second set, and were forced into a entertaining third set tiebreak to decide the winner. In their Indian Wells meeting, it was Sock and Pospisil who came out on top, but the Bryans would win this time by the slightest of margins, as experience beat youth on the day.
On Sunday, along with the Djokovic-Murray match, Hingis/Mirza will seek to continue their doubles success against Makarova/Vesnina.
Djokovic edges Ferrer, Isner shocks Nishikori Miami Open Thursday Recap Esam Taha for Tennis Atlantic
Photo Credit: Esam Taha
The two men’s quarterfinal matches on Thursday in Miami drew plenty of attention, as the world number 1 Novak Djokovic advanced, and John Isner posted his best result of the season with a huge upset over Kei Nishikori.
Novak Djokovic d. David Ferrer 7-5 7-5
The Miami crowd was treated to a heavyweight matchup in the Miami Open Quarterfinal night session. The world #1 had had quite the bumpy ride so far including a comeback effort against Dolgopolov in the previous round. Novak has won his last 7 meetings with Ferrer, his last loss dating back to the 2011 ATP WTF. The Serb was favorited going into this matchup but it wasn’t to expect to be a cakewalk especially with the way he’s been playing in Miami. Meanwhile David Ferrer hasn’t dropped a set so far in the tournament, knocking out Delbonis, Rosol, and Simon in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rounds respectively. Ferrer is having an excellent season so far only losing 2 matches and already with 3 titles under his belt, it was also his 33rd birthday today.
Ferrer would kick off proceedings with a solid hold, he looked focused and ready for the challenge with the way he was stroking the ball early. Meanwhile Djokovic looked a bit sloppy to start things off, quickly falling to a 0-40 hole on his serve. A double fault later and all of the sudden the Serb would find himself down a break with Ferrer serving to take a 3-0 lead. The Serb’s returns looked uncharacteristically tame on center court, putting little pressure on David’s serve. Just like that the world #1 would find himself serving out of a 0-3 hole. Novak would start to slowly get into the game as he stroked a beautiful looking DTL backhand winner to finally get on the board. Ferrer was defending with purpose, forcing Novak to hit that one extra shot. The Serb missed a volley as Ferrer held and went up 4-1. Once again, the frustration seemed to be getting the best of the defending champion, shades of the Dolgo match.
Ferrer started well (photo credit: Esam Taha)
Those in the Miami crowd that enjoy long rallies and endless groundstrokes were getting their money’s worth, both players seemed content with playing from the baseline up to that point. This game became more and more crucial as it kept swinging back and forth at deuce, Ferrer looked for the double break lead while Novak looked to get even on serve. Ferrer would splendidly save a breakpoint with a slick half volley pick up to the crowd’s delight. Novak however was the slight aggressor in that game and eventually came out with break after a grueling game. He’d hold to square things up at 4-4 in the 1st. Even though Djokovic was starting to play better he was still letting frustration get to him as he let out a rather audible scream when he missed a DTL forehand. Both players would hold to take the set to 5-5, however Ferrer was starting to rack up the UEs. That would carry on to a crucial service game as he sent 3 forehands long to get broken after going up 40-15, a backbreaker for the Spaniard. Novak would easily hold to take the 1st set 7-5, it was a poor end to the set from David.
Photo Credit: Esam Taha
Ferrer seemed to shake off that disappointing conclusion of the opening set as he came out firing with a convincing hold. Novak would follow that with a solid hold of his own, showing his soft hands with a perfectly executed half volley. Ferrer would bring the crowd to their feet the next game with an incredible display of reflexes at the net, which Novak acknowledged as well. It all went downhill from there for the Spaniard as he committed back to back double faults to get broken early in the 2nd. The Serb was now controlling court position, doing a better job of stepping up and punishing Ferrer’s conservative court positioning. At 1-3 Ferrer had to regain his composure to avoid finding himself staring at a double break deficit. After getting it to 30-30 Djokovic bailed the world #7 out with a couple of FH UEs. Both players would continue to trade holds but Ferrer wasn’t putting any pressure of Novak’s serve. At 3-5 Ferrer felt some pressure as he served to stay in the match. A brutal netcord would help Novak jump up 0-30 in the game. Ferrer battled back to 30-30 while a cheeky drop shot from Novak just missed to take the set to 5-4.
Novak would have to do the dirty work himself. The world #1 showed some nerves as he double faulted to go 30-30. Ferrer then overcooks a forehand to setup a match point for Novak. The Serb would get tight once again sending the backhand to the bottom of the net. The crowd would go ballistic as an incredible rally ended with Ferrer on top to break and even things up at 5-5 after facing match-point. The Serb would bounce back quickly breaking David right back as the drama intensified. This time Novak would quickly jump to 30-0 and not look back, closing the set out to claim the match 7-5 7-5. The defending champion booked himself a spot in the semifinal to face big John Isner, who’s been on a tear beating Dimitrov, Raonic, and Nishikori back to back to back.
Isner outhits Nishikori, Suarez Navarro, Serena setup WTA final
John Isner scored his second top 10 win of the week as he took out the favorite Kei Nishikori 6-4 6-3 to reach the semis in Miami, his best result of the 2015 season. The scoreline is a bit misleading, as Isner took control of the match early on, and also broke early in the second set. Nishikori failed to challenge him as a returner, and Isner won a remarkable number of return points himself, in fact putting up one of the best return performances of his career, against a quality ballstriker in Nishikori. Nishikori had dominated all of his opponents in the previous tournament matches, but today he no answer for the brute force and excellent shot placement that Isner put together. Nishikori thought he played well per his post-match presser, but Isner put up a textbook performance for a slow moving big server.
Carla Suarez Navarro pulled off a remarkable feat as she upset Andrea Petkovic 6-3 6-3 to reach her first ever Premier level final. It was a sloppy match with players putting up a large number of errors, but in the end CSN continues to improve and cement herself as a top 10 player. Serena Williams battled past Simona Halep to complete the WTA final lineup 6-2 4-6 7-5. Williams power proved too much for defensively oriented Halep, and she could have taken the match in straight sets perhaps, but was forced into a long third set.
Pospisil/Sock, Bryans will star in the doubles final
Vasek Pospisil/Jack Sock and the Bryan Brothers will face off in the ATP doubles final. Vasek and Jack beat Melo/Soares 6-4 3-6 10-7 and Bob and Mike Bryan beat Isner and Querrey 7-6 7-5.
Serena wins number 700 to reach Miami Open quarterfinals, Murray staves off challenge from Thiem Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
Serena Williams won a topsy-turvy encounter over in-form German Sabine Lisicki on Wednesday in Miami, as the wrorld number booked her place in the semifinals 7-6(4) 1-6 6-3. Serena did well win a nervy first set, and it was a good thing she survived the tiebreak, because Lisicki caught fire in the second set, bludgeoning Serena into a third set. Serena would recover from her daze and pull it out in the third however for her 700th WTA match win. A win that puts her behind just seven WTA greats on the all-time list, including Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Steffi Graf.
Simona Halep was also a winner on the day as she beat the unseeded Sloane Stephens 6-1 7-5. Stephens pressured in the opening game but quickly fell away in the first set, and in the second she fought back from a break down to extend the set into extra innings, but Halep was the superior player and her class finally shown through to break and hold her serve 7-5.
Simona Halep
On the men’s side Dominic Thiem played a great opening set of tennis against Andy Murray, but the more experienced and higher ranked Scot would dominate the rest of the match. Thiem was firing winners and was stiff on his serve, but Murray winning over 80% of his first serve points in the match, and recovered from the disappointment of dropping the opening set to break early in the second, and though he lost that break as the match went to 3-6 4-4, he would break again to take the second set 6-4, and then he dashed the hopes of a wilted Thiem 6-1 in the third for a 3-6 6-4 6-1 victory.
Tomas Berdych dealt with hot patches of play from Juan Monaco in the late match, and won 6-3 6-4. Berdych found himself bothered by a time violation in the first set and after going 4-2 up, got broken. However, Monaco failed to consolidate, and after a very long game at 3-4, Berdych broke again and served out the set to love. In set two, the situation was somewhat similar, Monaco would come up with some great shots, showcasing superior movement, but Berdych had a larger arsenal weaponry wise, and he served just well enough to get the win, scoring a late break, and again serving out the set, and this time the match, to love at 5-4.
Berdych
Quisner upset Rojer/Tecau 6-3 6-4, as John Isner has had a fantastic week in Miami, and the Bryans dealt with Anderson/Chardy 6-4 4-6 10-6. In WTA doubles, Hlavackova/Hradecka beat Niculescu/Panova 6-3 7-5, and Makarova/Vesnina sent Garcia/Srebotnik packing 6-4 3-6 10-4.
On Thursday, the Miami Open will have a very similar schedule of matches as Wednesday, as the two men’s quarterfinals remaining are Nishikori-Isner and Djokovic-Ferrer, and the WTA semifinals will be Suarez-Navarro vs. Petkovic and Williams vs. Halep.
(Photo Credit: Esam Taha)
Melo/Soares will play Pospisil/Sock in an exciting doubles match, and the Bryans will have an all-American battle with Quisner.
Keep checking Tennis Atlantic for all the exciting updates from Miami, all the way until the final match is completed!
Isner scores lone upset at Miami Open on Monday (Day 7 Recap) Esam Taha for Tennis Atlantic
Photo Credit: Esam Taha
The favorites on both the ATP and WTA side held true to form on Monday in Miami, with the lone upset being American John Isner’s victory over Grigor Dimitrov.
John Isner d. Grigor Dimitrov 7-6(2) 6-2
The big serving American had never faced Grigor Dimitrov before tonight, a night that would prove to be a big one for him. Isner was coming off a routine win over Andrey Rublev in the 2nd round and looking to secure a victory over the world #11. Meanwhile the Bulgarian had convincingly dismantled Vasek Pospisil a couple of days ago and looking to make amends for his early exit in Indian Wells.
Isner’s serve fended off the Dimitrov challenge (photo credit: Esam Taha)
Isner came out on fire blasting his first serves in at a high rate, not providing Grigor with any chance to get a beat on his serves. Both players would hold serve to kick things off, but a moment of controversy would present itself quickly on Isner’s serve. Dimitrov returned a ball that was going long but Isner gave up on the ball before the out call and therefore Bernandes would call it against John bringing up double break point. John was not happy and made that very clear to Carlos. Later John would give a more thorough explanation of what happened on that play in his post-match press conference, which can be found below. Meanwhile he’d quickly forget about the incident and win the next 4 points to hold serve. Dimitrov was keeping up with Isner but he was clearly not playing his best tennis out there, and with the crowd behind the American, Grigor was truly on the ropes.
Dimitrov was able to force a tiebreak nonetheless, but it would be a one-sided affair as Isner easily take it to close the set 7-6(2).
Dimitrov would have to change something quickly if he were to turn thing around, the Bulgarian was very rusty while John had hit his groove. At 1-1, Grigor would find himself in a 0-30 hole in a pivotal game. He was not able to bounce back, a couple of bad misses proved costly as John got the early break to take a 2-1 lead. Isner consolidated with ease, Grigor’s returns weren’t even close to landing on the court. The world #11 would then show a glimpse of why many picked him to win tonight. He would smoke a couple of aces coupled with an exquisite forehand drop to hold. However, that glimpse would be short-lived as John would find himself with another break opportunity at 2-4, a virtual match point for the American. Grigor would tighten up and proceed to gift the break to John with a double fault, summing up his disappointing performance tonight. Isner would do his part and serve out the match out to put 1 under the W column in their only head to head meeting. Isner has been markedly improved in his last two events, while Dimitrov continues to struggle this season.
Dimitrov lost the plot by the time the second set rolled around (photo credit: Esam Taha)
Novak Djokovic d. Steve Darcis 6-0 7-5
The world #1 was coming off a tricky match against Martin Klizan in the 2nd round and looked to put in a more convincing performance against qualifier Steve Darcis in this 3rd round encounter. Darcis, clearly the underdog here, was coming off a comeback effort against Malek Jaziri in the 1st round and a tough grinder against Gilles Muller in the 2nd.
Steve wasn’t used to the spotlight of playing in the main stadium and it showed right away, as he normally plies his trade on the challenger tour. Djokovic would proceed to steamroll past the Belgian in the 1st set with a bagel to show for it. Darcis made the mistake of trying to match Djokovic in rallies and taking him head on when he’s clearly the less talented player. Darcis however would change that approach a bit in the 2nd set.
Djokovic baked up another bagel today (Photo Credit: Esam Taha)
Novak held to kick things off registering his 7th straight game. Darcis would finally hold and get on the board prompting a loud cheer from the crowd. The next game brought back memories of the Klizan match as Novak would sloppily fall to deuce on his serve, but eventually hold. Steve was now engaged, keeping up as he held to tie it up at 2-2. Darcis switched his tactics in the 2nd going almost exclusively with the slice on his backhand side and it was starting to bother the Serb. The frustration would grow as Novak started making silly errors and not handling Steve’s slice very well. The Belgian would take things to 4-4, but he was hardly putting any sort of pressure on Novak’s serve, his returns were abysmal up to that point.
Darcis looked lost against Djokovic (Photo Credit: Esam Taha)
That would change the next game. The excessive slicing would eventually get to Novak’s head as he commited back to back uncharacteristic errors, earning Steve his first break of the match. Darcis now would get a chance to test his nerves as he walked out there to serve out a set against the #1 player in the world, no big deal. Djokovic however wasn’t too happy with himself and decided to take it out on Steve as he ripped a DTL backhand winner to seal the love break. That was as close as Steve would come to threatening the Serb. The Belgian attempted to serve to stay in the match, and would make quite a fight out of it. The ending was inevitable though as he poorly attempted a drop shot that dropped well short, putting the match to rest. Again Djokovic let up a bit after bageling his opponent, but this time, there would not be a third set.
After the match in press, Novak added his two cents on the rule changes to Davis Cup in regards to adding a fifth set tiebreak.
Meanwhile, Darcis admitted he tried his best on the day.
Raonic, Nishikori, Ferrer march into the round of 16
The two other big names in action on the men’s side of the draw scored wins today, Milos Raonic was 6-1 5-3 up against Jeremy Chardy, as he got off to a strong start, and the Frenchman was poor, even on his own serve, much less dealing with the Manitoba missile. However, Raonic slipped up and ended up having to put up a heck of a fight to advance. Chardy broke back for 5-5 in set 2, then saved break points to hold, and in the next game, break the Canadian #1 to force a third set, to the shock of everyone on the grandstand. In that third, Raonic was under pressure in multiple service games, as he was forced to save break points at 3-4. Raonic would get it into a tiebreak by the skin of his teeth, but got an edge late in that tiebreak, and scraped his way 6-1 5-7 7-6 into the round of 16.
Kei Nishikori blitzkrieged through his second consecutive match, this time it was a 6-2 6-2 drubbing of Viktor Troicki as the Serbian #2 was hopeless from the start. Nishikori did not play well in Indian Wells, but he has really upped his game in Miami and looks capable of challenging the remaining names in the draw.
David Ferrer won 6-4 7-5 over Lukas Rosol, it was a bad matchup for the Czech, as Ferru was consistent from the ground and eventually lulled him into too many errors. Rosol put up a good fight and made it a match in set 2, but Ferrer broke in the final game of the match, on his fifth match point chance. It should be noted that Rosol had six break point chances in the first set, and failed to convert, as he simply let too much on the table against Ferrer.
Alex Dolgopolov, normally a fan favorite, dealt with a hostile crowd to send off Thomaz Bellucci 7-5 6-4. Dolgopolov went on a hot streak from late in the first set, to early in the second, and was a set and a break up. Bellucci would attempt a comeback, as he had done in previous two wins (over Hewitt and Cuevas), rather than simply giving up, but it was not to be, as Dolgo simply moved too well and was too defensively sound for the Brazilian’s ball bashing to bother him.
David Goffin was more consistent than Jerzy Janowicz on the day winning 6-4 6-3, Goffin didn’t serve as good as he could have, but Janowicz couldn’t stick with him on the ground. Gilles Simon won an errorfest with Alejandro Falla 6-3 6-4, there were no winners after more than a dozen points into the match, and that type of stateline should demonstrate the type of match it was, as both players felt each other out, and Simon was able to bait his opponent into more errors.
Venus and Serena Williams booked their place in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open on Monday with solid wins. Venus impressive beat Dane Caroline Wozniacki 6-3 7-6, while Serena beat the veteran Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2 6-3. Sabine Lisicki won her seventh match in nine tries, all at premier level as she drubbed Sara Errani 6-1 6-2. Lisicki will now have to deal with the machine that is Serena.
Simona Halep (6-3 7-5 over Flavia Pennetta), Andrea Petkovic (6-1 7-5 over Ekaterina Makarova), Carla Suarez Navarro (5-7 6-0 6-4 over Aga Radwanska in an impressive hard court win), Karolina Pliskova (6-3 6-2 over the promising Daria Gavrilova), and Sloane Stephens (6-4 7-6 over Belinda Bencic) round out the WTA quarterfinalists in Miami.
After a win over them in the Indian Wells doubles final, Pospisil/Sock again beat Bolelli/Fognini, this time in a 6-2 6-3 blowout win. Joining them as ATP doubles quarterfinalists are Rojer/Tecau who beat Cabal/Farah 6-7 6-3 10-2 in a huge comeback win, Draganja/Kontinen who beat Bellucci/Souza 6-3 6-3 , Anderson/Chardy who dominated Almagro/Garcia-Lopez 6-1 6-2, and Melo/Soares, who kept Brazilian fans hopes alive with a 7-5 4-6 10-7 victory over Jamie Murray/Peers.
As for the WTA doubles quarterfinalists, one spot remains to be filled but so far it’s Garcia/Srebotnik who beat Chan/Jankovic 6-1 6-3, Hradecka/Hlavackova who beat Jans-Ignacik/Klepac 6-4 6-4, and the Rodionova sisters who beat Muguraza/Suarez-Navarro 7-5 6-1.
Big servers Isner and Raonic to meet in highlighted Tuesday match
The action will focus on the men Tuesday in Miami, as just two WTA singles matches are on the docket. John Isner and Milos Raonic will clash in a match that is likely to see at least one tiebreak, both have looked good at points this tournament, but with Isner perhaps looking better, he will have a punchers chance against the Canadian number #1, who has outshone him in recent months with better results.
A clash of styles will be evident between Gael Monfils and Tomas Berdych in their round of 16 meeting, Monfils is of course incredibly athletic and fleet footed, while Berdych can bludgeon the ball and has a good offensive attack. Adrian Mannarino and Dominic Thiem will meet for the first time, as it’s a great chance for both of these underdog winners to grab Masters quarterfinal level points.
Novak Djokovic will have to deal with creative shotmaker Alex Dolgopolov, who has been playing great this week, that match will be the toughest Novak has faced so far but he’s still the heavy favorite. Juan Monaco and Fernando Verdasco should delight fans, as it’s a great chance at quarterfinal points for either, Verdasco riding the momentum of a huge win over Rafael Nadal in the previous round. That matchup should feature long rallies, as will the one between grinders David Ferrer and Gilles Simon. Kei Nishikori will take on the similarly undersized but technically sound David Goffin, who is a huge underdog, and Andy Murray will have to return well against big server Kevin Anderson if he is to avoid the upset.
Pospisil/Sock, and Martina Hingis will be back in doubles action on Tuesday, and the WTA matches are Petkovic/Pliskova and Venus Williams/Suarez Navarro, so be on the lookout for those matchups.
Verdasco rises to defeat Nadal, Murray, Monfils advance, while Wawrinka is ousted (Miami Open Sunday Recap) Esam Taha for Tennis Atlantic
(Photo Credit: Esam Taha)
Yesterday was a thrilling day at the Miami Open, as once again the ATP side of the action stole the show, with a mix of upsets, and quality performances by some of the top players in the men’s game. The biggest story of course is Fernando Verdasco’s massive upset of #2 seed Rafael Nadal, but Nadal wasn’t the only top player to fall, as Stan Wawrinka suffered another early exit at the hands of Adrian Mannarino. From the first ball struck on the day, to the match point of the final match, Miami brought the spice on Sunday, and here is a review.
Fernando Verdasco d. Rafael Nadal 6-4 2-6 6-3
The Miami crowd was in for a huge upset on Sunday when they took their seats in the main Stadium to watch fan favorite Nadal take on veteran Fernando Verdasco in a battle of Spanish lefties. As subpar as Nadal has been this season, he showed glimpses of his old self in Indian Wells and a good showing in Miami would have a huge confidence boost going into the clay season. However the 31 year old Verdasco would be the one who find his form, and boost his confidence going into the clay court season.
Nadal’s compatriot is on the down side of his career steadily falling off the ranking the past few years, but has still been consistent enough to hang around in the top 50. The only good run he had this season was in Quito where he lost to Feliciano Lopez in the semifinal.
Both players held serve rather comfortably in the early proceedings quickly getting to 3-3 in the 1st. At 3-3 with Verdasco on serve, Nadal would be the first to threaten generating the match’s first break point. Verdasco however would keep his composure to win 3 straight points and hold. Verdasco was playing some inspired tennis, really getting into a good rhythm with his groundstrokes. Rafa on the other hand was on and off. Verdasco would capitalize on the very next game, getting the break thanks to an uncharacteristic Rafa double fault on break point to the shock of the crowd. At 5-3 Rafa needed to break back right away if he didn’t want to give up the set, and the crowd was right there behind him, the “VAMOS RAFA” chant could be heard a mile away. The world #3 would respond breaking at 30-40. Fernando wouldn’t be denied however, he would set up break point by winning 3 straight points on Rafa’s serve. Nadal would let his nerves get to him again as he shanks at set point to lose the 1st set to Verdasco on his own serve.
Verdasco might’ve been a little hung over on the first set falling to a 0-40 hole rather quickly on his opening service game in set 2. The veteran would keep his calm and eventually avoid the early break. Rafa seemed more focus now, starting to reduce the errors and hit his spots. At 2-2 with Fernando serving Rafa would really start to take control breaking the world #31 at 15-40. Nadal continued to build momentum closing out his service game with an ace to consolidate the break and go up 4-2. The crowd was starting to sense the pendulum swing and the “VAMOS RAFA” chants were becoming more and more frequent. Verdasco wasn’t playing his best stuff, not nearly the level of tennis that earned him the 1st set. He’d face a double break point at 2-4. Fernando would gather some of that 1st set form to rip a forehand cross court winner and save both BPs. However Rafa was on a mission, he’d win the next 2 points and put a firm grip on the 2nd set as he lined up to serve it out. He would easily hold to even things up at a set a piece as the crowd left their seats in jubilation.
Rafa improved his form to level the match up in set 2 (Photo Credit: Esam Taha)
Everyone was sensing the pull of the pendulum in full swing as Verdasco committed back to back double faults to put himself under pressure on his service game. However after a couple of deuces the veteran would find his form once again murdering the ball with a DTL forehand winner to pull off the tough hold. Nadal was looking particularly in the zone ripping inside out forehands winners routinely to hold. Verdasco answered with an impressive hold including an ace and an inside out winner of his own, he was toe to toe with the world #3. Fernando seemed to be dominating court position and taking advantage of the open court as he created a break point on Rafa’s serve. He’d hit another inside out screamer to convert and go up 3-1. The trend seemed to continue with Rafa starting to fade and Verdasco hitting his spots with ease as he consolidated to go up 4-1. Nadal was feeling the pressure as he double faulted on the next service game but eventually held to keep it at a single break. At 2-5 Nadal comes out to serve to stay in the match, the crowd goes absolutely berserk to get behind Rafa. Nerves would show themselves as Rafa double faulted and faced a match point on his serve. However a couple of nervy returns from Fernando would bail him out, Verdasco would have to do it the hard way and serve the match out. The 31 year old would keep his calm as he comfortably held to complete the upset over the fan favorite Rafa Nadal. Nadal had two chances to win a second serve point, and failed to convert, as that was the story of the match. Verdasco held his nerve, but Nadal failed to maintain a consistent level when given opportunities, and thus he will find his feet back on clay sooner, rather than later.
Verdasco was swinging Thor’s hammer from the forehand side (Photo Credit: Esam Taha)
Andy Murray d. Santiago Giraldo 6-3 6-4
Murray put up a solid performance (photo credit: Esam Taha)
Andy would kick off the day session in Miami by taking on the world #31 Santiago Giraldo. The Colombian enjoyed an excellent 2014 propelling him into the top 50. He had one good run this season making it to the Semifinal in Sao Paulo before losing to Cuevas in straight sets. Murray on the other hand has enjoyed a solid season thus far highlighted by his Australian Open final appearance. However his last loss was a humbling one to the world #1 Novak Djokovic in Indian Wells.
The condition were windy again on the day, but that didn’t seem to bother Andy one bit, as wind has always helped his counterpunching game. Murray attacked Giraldo’s serve well early in the set, and eventually would strike first to get the break. Andy was feeling little pressure on his serve and would hold to love and take a 5-2 lead. Giraldo would face a set point in the following game but battle through to force the Scot to do the job himself. He would, and with ease to claim the 1st 6-3. There were a strong Colombian presence in the crowd who were trying to get behind their guy but it didn’t seem to be working. Santiago would get broken to love to start off the 2nd, not the way he wanted to begin a comeback.
Giraldo didn’t have much mojo on the day (photo credit: Esam Taha)
Giraldo would actually play better the following game but Murray had really hit his stride, an exquisite drop shot sealed the game to consolidate the break. Murray was more consistent with his groundstrokes, Giraldo was able to keep up with the pace but he always seemed to blink first. As a result the Scot would get his 2nd break and seemed well on his way to a routine victory. Murray would take a commanding 4-0 lead in the 2nd, and despite the Colombian’s back being against the wall the crowd had not thrown in the towel just yet cheering “Santi” on. The Colombian would respond by getting on the board for the 2nd set but he still had a mountain to climb. At 2-5 Giraldo had to come up with something special to avoid getting served out. He’d take the first point to the delight of the crowd. He really rode the crowd’s support that game as he saved 2 match points and broke the Scot to extend the set. Giraldo followed that by a convincing hold, Murray’s would get another chance to advance to the next round. This time he’s succeed in an anticlimactic fashion as the net cord drop the balls too short for Giraldo at a 40-30 match point. Murray however was the better player by far, was very impressive with his groundstrokes and movement out there.
Gael Monfils d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4 7-6(4)
Gael’s defense won the day (Photo Credit: Esam Taha)
The anticipated match between the two friends was finally here, and there was not an empty seat to be found in the Grandstand. Monfils was coming off a tough three set grindfest with Filip Krajinovic was looking to put in a better performance today. Tsonga on the other hand is coming off a roller coaster match with the American Tim Smyczek where we saw a mixed bag of a rusty Tsonga and classic Jo-Willy. This encounter began with the sloppy version of Jo, as double faulted and looking out of sorts, however he’d eventually find a way to hold. Gael’s defense was on display early on as he produced a sweet dipping cross court pass that Tsonga would only punch wide, 1-1 1st set. The sloppy Jo would continue to show up as he couples another double fault with a forehand UE to practically gift his friend the break, Monfils went up 2-1. Gael meanwhile had begun to find his groove, looking the sharper of the 2 as he consolidated to go up 3-1. This time the Tsonga we’re all used to would finally make an appearance with better serving and aggressive play to hold to love. He carried that over to Monfils’ service game coming close to breaking him but Gael kept his composure to hold after facing the double breakpoint.
Monfils started strong early (photo credit: Esam Taha)
The world #19 was playing exceptional defense while still going for his shots when an opportunity presented itself. Forcing Jo to hit that once extra shot really seemed to take its toll on the Frenchman. Jo meanwhile would continue to serve well as he held easily to keep the lead at a single break, 4-3 in the 1st. As the match passed the 30 minute mark both players did little to threaten their counterpart’s serve. Monfils would therefore get his first chance to serve out the set. He went for a vintage Monfils nonchalant forehand on a short ball which he missed but fortunately for him it didn’t cost him. He made amends with a clean cross court forehand winner to claim the 1st as the crowd roared him on.
There would be a bit of a lull in the beginning of the 2nd as both players held, but Tsonga didn’t not look sharp, mixing in a few lame returns. That would carry on to his 2nd service game, the rusty groundstrokes would not go unpunished by Gael as the latter broke to go up 2-1. That lead would be short-lived however as Monfils was going through a bit a funk too gifting the break right back to his friend tying things up at 2-2. The dip in Gael’s performance was noticeable now as he stuck a couple of ground strokes right into the net. At 2-3 he would tough out what would prove to be a pivotal hold for the Frenchman. Tsonga continued to display inconsistency as he followed an ace with a double fault, a microcosm of his performance thus far. The crowd would then get treated to a trademark Monfils moment. The Frenchman went for a jumping air-smash only to blast the ball into the stands, he proceed to look down at the racket that had broken, before sending it flying into the crowd turning it into a souvenir for a lucky fan, who was seen waving it around to his friends and family in celebration.
Tsonga struggled with Monfils athleticism and defense on the day (photo credit: Esam Taha)
Despite the broken racquet, Gael would avoid being on the receiving end of a similar outcome on court, as he held to even things up at 4-4. With both players serving well, the Frenchmen would continue to trade blows sending the set to within a game of a tiebreak as we passed the hour and a half mark. Tsonga would play an aggressive excellent game generating a double set point. However he’d proceed to bail Gael out by overcooking a forehand to the open court, the missed chance was crucial, as the crowd started to sense that that missed opportunity might prove costly. The tiebreak would begin with both player sticking forehands into the net to trade mini-breaks, going into the changeover at 3-3. Monfils would get the 2nd mini-break by once again playing some incredible defense and following that with a stunning DTL backhand winner. With the match on his racket at 5-4, he would create 2 MPs right away. Tsonga would save one but followed it with a very narrow miss as he went for it all on the cross court forehand return. The good friends would embrace at the net, it was a close battle but Gael was the deserving winner of the duel.
Photo credit: Esam Taha
Mannarino ousts Wawrinka, Berdych completes comeback against Tomic
Mannarino shocked Stan (Photo Credit: Esam Taha)
Adrian Mannarino scored a big upset over Stan Wawrinka 7-6(4) 7-6(5). Mannarino has markedly improved in his consistency and has turned himself into a top 30 player, after previously toiling away on the ATP Challenger Tour. Wawrinka was again sloppy and inconsistent, just as he was in Indian Wells, and against Carlos Berlocq in his opening match in Miami. Mannarino broke in the opening game, though Wawrinka broke back, and then he won the tiebreak with solid play compared to his opponent. In the second set Stan threw away breaks of serve twice, to be forced into a tiebreak, as he failed to level the match. Late on, Wawrinka had lost focus and was shanking returns, overall he put up a horrific 46 unforced errors compared to just 19 winners, as Mannarino proved to be a grinding, brick wall of defense. Though his game was bland, it was less porous than Wawrinka, who displayed limited shotmaking ability on the day, and finishes the opening two Masters tournaments of the year with an abysmal 1-2 record.
Wawrinka slumps to 1-2 in the first two Masters events of 2015 (Photo Credit: Esam Taha)
Tomas Berdych came back from the dead to defeat Bernard Tomic for the fourth time in his career. Tomic was 7-6 4-0 up, after coming back from a break down, and facing set points in the first set, and blitzing the Czech #1 in the second. However, Berdych fought hard in this one, and the wheels came off for Tomic, Tomic had four match points in the second set, including 1 serving at 5-4, but couldn’t convert any of them. Berdych’s power begin to bother him, especially when the Czech moved forward towards the net, and though Tomic’s junkballing was making Berdych have to bend and adjust his body into uncomfortable rally positions, it still didn’t seem like a good matchup for Tomic by the time the third set came around. Berdych blasted him off the court with heavy groundstrokes and clutch serves, and Tomic eventually slumped to a 7-6 6-7 1-6 defeat.
Dominic Thiem won a battle of the young guns with Jack Sock 6-4 6-3, the Austrian extended his winning streak and posted his best tournament result of the season already by defeating Sock. He pressured the American on his serve, while Sock was not a worthy foil when returning serve, eventually Sock collapsed under the weight of Thiem’s pressure, and solid baseline play.
Sock didn’t handle the pressure of Thiem well (photo credit: Esam Taha)
In the late match, Juan Monaco put his shotmaking prowess on display 7-5 6-4 over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. GGL got disheartened by the time it got late into the second, and seemed to lack the will to want to force a third set. Monaco moved well and was solid from both wings, as he tactically moved Garcia-Lopez about, and rushed forward at the right time.
Lisicki topples Ivanovic, Serena dispatches teen Bellis
Sabine Lisicki continued her good recent run of results, defeating a frustrated Ana Ivanovic 7-6 7-5 in the night session WTA match. Earlier in the day, Serena Williams destroyed 15 year old Cici Bellis 6-1 6-1, Simona Halep had a bit of trouble with Camila Giorgi’s power hitting but prevailed 6-4 7-5. Flavia Pennetta beat a struggling Victoria Azarenka 7-6 7-6, Belinda Bencic beat the qualifier Tatjana Maria 6-4 7-5, Sloane Stephens won again 6-4 6-4 over Johanna Larsson, and in the two three setters of the day on the WTA side, veteran Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Angelique Kerber 6-3 3-6 6-3 and Sara Errani upset Garbine Muguruza 4-6 6-4 6-1.
Tsonga wins comeback match, Dolgopolov, Djokovic thrill in Miami (Saturday Day 5 Miami OpenRecap) Esam Taha for Tennis Atlantic
Photo Credit: Esam Taha
The ATP side of the draw provided the primary highlights on an action packed Saturday at the 2015 Miami Open. Most of the top players advanced, as upsets were few and far between, meaning the fans will get the big name tennis that they wanted in the later rounds. With so many matches around the grounds, here is a handy synopsis.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga d. Tim Smyczek 6-4 3-6 6-3
The crowd gathered in anticipation in the main stadium to witness the return of the always entertaining Tsonga to the courts following his injury lay-off. This would be his first match in 2015, his last match was back in November of 2014 in the Davis Cup final when he lost to Stan Wawrinka in 4 sets. Tim Smyczek became a popular player this year after the amazing fight he put up against Rafael Nadal back in the Australian Open, especially related to the incredible moment of sportsmanship he displayed in a pivotal point during that match. Regardless it’s an opponent Jo would expect to beat, but of course after 4 months of not playing competitive tennis anything could happen, as the two fan favorite players met on Stadium court.
The Frenchman didn’t look rusty at all as he held with ease at the start, backed by an impressive serve that flummoxed Smyczek. Tim on the other hand didn’t look like he was dealing with pace of Tsonga’s groundstrokes very well, but regardless he would be able to hold serve the first few games. The first break would come at 3-3 in the 1st. Tim failed to keep up with the powerful Tsonga who was overpowering him in the rallies, and would get broken at 3-3. The Frenchman would continue his excellent serving as he consolidated the break to go up 5-4. A funny moment would present itself when Jo was serving for the set. the Frenchman would completely whiff a forehand on a short ball. Tsonga would then joke with the crowd as he pretended to not be able to catch the ball handed to him by the ballboy, he was in good spirits out there. The world # 13 would close out the set in style blasting a DTL backhand which Tim can only watch fly past him. The set was Tsonga’s 6-4.
Tsonga moved well in his return (Photo Credit Esam Taha)
The crowd would start to sense that Jo would continue to steamroll past the American in the 2nd, and with the way the Frenchman was serving it seemed so. The 2nd set began with both players holding serve, but Tim still didn’t look comfortable out there, as errors were flying off his racquet. He would appear to threaten Jo’s serve with a brilliant backhand pass only to follow it up with a silly unforced error, the story of the match for him at this point, all square at 2-2 in the second. Tim despite his inconsistent play was holding serve rather comfortably, he was hanging around and you could sense he just needed Jo to blink to turn things around. That’s exactly what would happen as Jo was serving at 3-2, the Frenchman would make a couple of unforced errors and just like that American would go up 4-2. At this point the pendulum was truly swinging as Tsonga was starting to lose focus and miss routine shots. Tim would hold at ease and go up 5-2, Jo was now serving to stay in the 2nd. The two players were starting to play some incredible points putting on a show in the main stadium, Tim’s lob would sail long forcing him to serve out the set himself. Jo would get a little help from the net-cord to generate a break point but Tim would save it. Jo was now uncharacteristically slicing everything back waiting for the American to make the mistake, however Tim would keep his composure and take the set at 6-3.
Photo Credit: Esam Taha
Tsonga would come out in the 3rd with a more intensity right off the bat, beautifully mixing up a cheeky drop shot with a forehand winner to the delight of the Miami crowd. The condition were unusual for Miami this time of year, relatively cold temperatures with a little bit of wind to spice things up. Both players would hold, 1-2 3rd set. Jo was definitely back to his 1st set form, playing a beauty of a cross court pass ending a marathon of a game to draw blood first in the 3rd, Tim meanwhile would let the wall behind him know how frustrated he was. Tsonga would continue serving efficiently to consolidate and go up 4-1 in the decider. At this point you got the feeling that it was all going to happen on the Frenchman’s racket, there was little Tim could do about it. Brimming with confidence, Tsonga would break again to get to just one game away from his first win in 2015. Jo would show no nerves as he serves out the match. The Frenchman was elated, jumping around waving to the crowd as the winner was announced. Even with rust, Tsonga had more raw talent than Smyczek and his serve, mixed with variety from the ground, were very effective weapons on the day.
Alexandr Dolgopolov d. Tommy Robredo 6-7(1) 6-3 7-5
Last year’s quarterfinalist in Miami, Alex Dolgopolov put on a spectacular showcase in his second round match with baselining, veteran Spaniard Tommy Robredo. Dolgo’s speed, shotmaking, and variation was on full display as he fired 33 winners and broke Robredo 6 times over the course of three long, and competitive sets. Dolgo got off to a fast start, breaking 2-0, but he couldn’t maintain the break, and likewise, Robredo failed to serve out the set 5-4 in the first, as he was broken back himself. At 6-5 Dolgo had a lone set point that he failed to convert, and then Robredo rose up, battling hard from the ground to take the first set tiebreak 7-1.
In the second, Dolgopolov recovered, securing a double break to take it 6-3, as he closed out the set with a break, something he had failed to do in the third set. The match was incredibly high quality, and positively intense throughout, as both players delighted spectators both in person, and in front of their video screens. The third set however, was something else, as both players rose to a level that made this match, the match of the tournament thus far. Similar to the previous two sets, an early break was found, as Robredo generated it and converted, but again, Dolgo would break back, and they would hold serve all the way to 4-4, as Robredo saved a lone break point to hold. The tennis from 4-4 in the third was magical, and defined everything great about the ATP game, and the sport itself. Dolgopolov committed himself to using athleticism to overcome the crafty Robredo, showing off his wheels, and his ability to create shots from all variety of court positions, as the highlight video below demonstrates. The tennis in this match was jaw dropping, and Dolgopolov broke in the final game for a 7-5 third set. It took him three match points, and on the final one, he drilled the ball from the whipping forehand side directly at Robredo who was approaching the net, drawing the error, and a match victory. These two fan favorite players were a delight to watch, and it was a must witness match.
Fans were treated to all shades of both Novak Djokovic and Martin Klizan, in their stadium court, night session clash. Djokovic got off to a fast start with the bagel, though Klizan was still showing signs of life, as none of the games within the set were love games, and he was hitting his forehand crisply. Even still, given the bakery products, it seemed Klizan might have thrown in the towel going into set 2, however, that was not the case as the Slovak recommitted himself. Klizan broke in the opening game to show he had his head in the game, and though Novak would break twice to go up 6-0 5-3, Kizan hit an amazing drop shot, and utillized power to break back at 15 against the world number 1. This sent the crowd into a frenzy, as they wanted to get more bang their buck, and though they appreciated Novak, it was clear most in the stadium wanted to see a third set.
Klizan, and Novak would give the crowd what they paid to see, as Klizan broke late, and then held, after saving two break points, for a 7-5 second set. It seemed Novak had gotten tense late in the second, and had taken his foot off the throat of his streaky opponent, who previously had beaten Rafael Nadal last fall in Beijing. Klian couldn’t conjure up that magic though, as Novak righted the ship, and was simply too firm from the baseline, redirecting the shots that Klizan wacked his way. Djokovic notched his second bakery product of the evening, taking the third 6-1, and he was pleased to have avoided a crisis in his opening match from Crandon Park.
Grigor Dimitrov d. Vasek Pospisil 6-2 6-2
Dimitrov won easily (Photo Credit: Esam Taha)
Dimitrov was coming off a rather disappointing early exit in Indian Wells, and clearly had the desire to make a deep run down in Miami. He would play the Canadian Vasek Pospisil, who has presently failed to matriculate into the player that many thought he could be. The 24 year olds would clash on the Stadium court, and Grigor would not waste anytime breaking the Canadian right out the gate, the Bulgarian looked like he was on a mission. He would jump to a 2-1 lead in the 1st, Pospisil meanwhile looked shaken up. Dimitov would continue putting in an efficient display of tennis with a stunning DTL backhand winner to get the 2nd break going up 4-1. As good as the Dimitrov was today Vasek looked completely out of sorts, his timing seemed to be off. Grigor would have a minor hiccup after sloppy start to the next game but would eventually string 4 points in a row to save double break point and consolidate the 2nd break. The world #11 would comfortably continue on to take the 1st set 6-2. The crowd was in a bit of lull, due to the lack of competitiveness in the match.
Photo Credit: Esam Taha
Vasek would start off the 2nd set looking just as shaky but eventually regain his composure to avoid getting broken right away. Pospisil was starting to play a bit better now but still not putting any sort of pressure on Grigor’s serve. Dimitrov was in the zone today, he was simply too good for the Canadian breaking him at 2-2 to take a 3-2 lead. That seemed to be the one that finally knocke all the fight out of Pospisil. It was one way traffic from there-on, with the Bulgarian winning all the remaining games to wrap up a convincing 6-2, 6-2 domination of VasekPospisil. He will be facing the big serving John Isner in the 3rd round which should prove to be a tougher test for him.
We caught up with Grigor after the match, he would speak about facing Isner the next round and talk candidly about the constant pressure he faces on tour.
Kei Nishikori d. Mikhail Youzhny 6-2 6-1
Kei blitzed the Colonel (Photo Credit: Esam Taha)
Day 6, in fact kicked off with a matchup between two players with quite contrasting career trajectories. Fans gathered in the Grandstand to watch the Japanese shotmaker Kei Nishikoti take on the veteran Russian Mikhail Youzhny. Nishikori is coming off an underwhelming performance in Indian Wells and looking to at least replicate the deep run he made here in Miami in 2014 which included beating Roger Federer before withdrawing due to injury. Meanwhile, the wheels on Youzhny’s career were rusting, as he only had two wins in 2015 coming into this one.
The very first game was a sign of things to come in this encounter as Youzhny struggled to hold serve right off the bat. He would face a break point before winning 3 straight points to get avoid the early break. In contrast, Nishikori would hold easily as the Russian was struggling to hit his spots sailing a couple of forehands long. Kei would pounce quickly. Youzhny’s groundstrokes weren’t on the same level as the Japanese, he would find himself facing triple break point. The veteran would stick a volley into the net to give Kei his first break as he stared up into the bright, Miami, sun. Nishikori would once again hold easily to consolidate and go up 3-1. Mikhail would finally start serving better, to hold, and keep the lead at a single break. Nishikori’s groundstrokes were looking as good as ever, bringing back memories of the match he played against Dimitrov in this same stadium a year ago. Youzhny still wouldn’t be able to find his rhythm as he continued making silly mistakes. This time it was an ill-advised poorly executed drop shot that would open up a double break opportunity for Kei. The Japanese was in unforgiving form as he converted the break points to take a 2 break lead 5-2. Youzhny with his back to the wall would take Kei to deuce but it would prove to be a futile attempt, the latter would hold his nerve, and take the set 6-2.
The match so far has been one-sided and even though the crowd was trying to urge Mikhail on, the Russian wasn’t responding. In fact he would kick off the 2nd set with back to back double faults. Mikhail would continue making unforced errors to give Kei 2 break points, causing him to yell something to himself in Russian, seeminly not of the positive sort. Kei on the other hand would fist pump as he converted the break point to take the lead right away. Youzhny would follow that game with probably his best tennis of the match, pushing Nishikori to 4 deuces on his service game. However even that effort wouldn’t be enough to break through.
Mikhail would eventually commit a couple of unforced errors as Kei hed and consolidated the break to go up 2-0. The crowd wanted to see a more competitive match but they were starting to feel this was going to be one way traffic. Nishikori would win 4 straight points on Youzhny’s serve to take go up 2 breaks, 4-1 in the 2nd set. The outcome was inevitable when Kei hit a couple of aces to consolidate the 2nd break and go up 5-1. The final game would actually prove to be entertaining marathon of 6 deuces but just like the rest of the match the Japanese would come out on top as he break for a 3rd time and claim the victory. Nishikori won it in straight sets in just over an hour.
We caught up with Kei after the match to give his insight on how he deals with the increasing number of defensive player on tour.
Americans Sock, and Isner, Frenchmen Simon, Monfils, and Chardy score successes in ATP singles, Bellucci wins late night thriller
American and French players both had good results in second round singles action on Saturday. Jack Sock continued his good form, winning a competitive first set over slumping Italian Fabio Fognini, before, as is almost expected at this point, Fognini tanked hard in the second, as the match ended 7-6 6-1 in anti-climatic fashion. John Isner dominated the Russian teenager Andrey Rublev 6-3 6-4, as Rublev had zero familiarity with Big John’s serve. He struggled to even get a racquet on the second serve of the American #1, and thus the result was never in question. Gilles Simon played graceful tennis in the third set and took out Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3 6-7 6-0, Kukushkin lost momentum early in the third, but Simon was brilliant from both the baseline, and the net, having lulled his opponent into a poor course of play. Jeremy Chardy won all but two games from 0-4 down in his match against Jurgen Melzer, as the Austrian may have injured himself, the final scoreline 6-4 6-1. Gael Monfils won a thriller against underdog Filip Krajinovic, 3-6 6-2 7-6. Monfils failed to convert four match point chances in the third set, but finally won the tiebreak to take out the pesky Serb.
After the match Monfils was asked about having to play his good friend Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in round 3.
Thomaz Bellucci won a late night thriller over Pablo Cuevas 2-6 6-2 7-5. The grandstand court was packed with fans of the Brazilian veteran, and though he got off to a slow start, 1-4 down in a short span of time, his passion showed as he battled back to make it a match against the higher ranked Cuevas. Bellucci took a nasty fall early in the second set, twisting his ankle, and was visibly grimacing in pain as he received a medical timeout and treatment for his fall, which primarily involved stretching and testing his ankle. However, instead of retiring, he was capable of continuing, and rather than merely dragging himself the rest of the way through, he rose up and broke Cuevas to go 2-1 up. This outraged a frustrated Cuevas, who yelled at him when they were crossing sides during the changeover, with some harsh words (in Spanish or Portuguese I’m not certain). As a result of this outburst, the fans really got behind Bellucci, and started to get into Cuevas head. Bellucci broke twice more in the second to force a third as things got messy for Cuevas.
In the third set, both players battled on serve to 5-5, and then Bellucci would score a crucial break, as his heavy hitting, primarily from the forehand side with spin, was pushing Cuevas back and putting him into an uncomfortable position to generate angles with his one-handed backhand. Serving for the match at 6-5, Bellucci got tight and went 0-30 down, but he played amazingly from that point, with two go for broke forehands that just about broke the sound barrier, and two untouchable serves to convert his lone match point opportunity of the long battle. The hitting was heavy, and though both players got tight and weren’t the most accurate, Bellucci was hitting the ball, perhaps the hardest I’ve ever seen from him, as the fans danced and cheered in the stands, having traveled to Crandon Park to see their national hero play against a fellow South American.
Other mens second round winners on the day, in straight sets, included David Ferrer, who didn’t mess around today, winning 6-1 6-1 over Federico Delbonis, Lukas Rosol, who continued his uptick in recent form with a 7-6 6-3 win over Alex Zverev, Alejandro Falla, who upset Ivo Karlovic 6-4 6-2 as the Croat didn’t have much game on the day, Milos Raonic, who comfortably rode his serve to a 6-1 6-4 win over Teymuraz Gabashvili, David Goffin, who shellacked Borna Coric 6-0 6-4, in a surprising scoreline, the Croat having a poor tournament this time out, and Juan Monaco, who extended the terrible form of Ernests Gulbis 6-2 6-4.
The winners in three sets in mens singles were Fernando Verdasco, who eased past James Duckworth 4-6 6-2 6-1, Adrian Mannarino, who won the continuation match with Albert Ramos 6-4 3-6 6-2, Viktor Troicki, who grinded past Simone Bolelli 7-5 3-6 6-4, Steve Darcis, who upset Gilles Muller 6-4 6-7 6-3, and Jerzy Janowicz, who beat Roberto Bautista Agut and his injured eye, 6-1 1-6 6-4. The win is the best for Janowicz in quite some time as he was in poor form coming into Miami but is now into the third round.
Wozniacki, Radwanska and Williams sisters win, Bouchard upset
Caroline Wozniacki survived Kaia Kanepi 4-6 6-1 6-3, Aga Radwanska fended off a challenge from Irina-Camelia Begu 6-2 4-6 6-2, and the Williams sisters scored routine wins, Serena beat the junkballer Monica Niculescu 6-3 6-1, and Venus beat Sam Stosur 6-4 7-6. Fan favorite Eugenie Bouchard was not as lucky, she was listless in a shocking upset loss to German qualifier Tatjana Maria, who is ranked outside of the top 100, as Bouchard had a disappointing third round exit.
Ekaterina Makarova beat Elina Svitolina 6-0 6-4 in just over an hour, Carla Suarez Navarro beat Alize Cornet by the same 6-0 6-4 scoreline, Karolina Pliskova beat Paula Bedosa Gibert 7-5 6-1, Andrea Petkovic, who was enjoying the Cuevas-Bellucci match on twitter last night, earlier in the day had beaten Kristina Mladenovic in a 6-0 6-2 blowout. Angelique Kerber won the most competitive WTA match of the day over Heather Watson 7-5 3-6 6-4, Sara Errani beat Ana Pavlyuchenkova 6-1 7-6, and Daria Gavrilova followed up her massive win over Sharapova with a 6-0 7-6 win over Kurumi Nara.
Doubles specialists score victories
The Bryans beat Becker/Lipsky 6-2 7-6 in men’s doubles, and two other doubles specialists pairings on the men side also won. Rojer/Tecau 6-4 6-2 over Inglot/Mergea, and Cabal/Farah 7-6 6-3 over Lopez/Mirnyi. Bolelli/Fognini continued their remarkable form in doubles with a 6-4 6-2 win over the quality pairing of Klaasen/Paes, and Americans Harrison/Ram beat Mahut/Roger-Vasselin 7-5 7-6.
Chan/Jankovic beat Parra-Santonja/Soler-Espinosa 7-5 6-4, Dushevina/Martinez Sanchez beat Goerges/Groenefeld 7-6 3-6 10-7 in a battle, Hantuchova/Knapp beat Dulgheru/Halep 7-5 6-3, Niculescu/Panova beat the veteran pairing of Lisa Raymond/Sam Stosur 6-2 6-3. Hsieh/Pennetta won 6-1 6-3 over Cornet/Svitolina, Garcia/Srebotnik beat Puig/Watson 6-3 6-3, Jans-Ignacik/Klepac beat Bertens/Maria 7-5 6-4, and Muguruza/Suarez-Navarro beat Savchuk/Torro-flor 6-3 6-2.
Monfils-Tsonga headlines Miami Sunday
With action already underway in Miami on Sunday, Gael Monfils will take on good buddy Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Fernando Verdasco and Rafa Nadal will renew their rivalry, 15 year old Cici Bellis will take on Serena, and Sabine Lisicki will battle against Ana Ivanovic in some of the big matches on the day.
Courtside Videocast brought to you by Tennis Atlantic and The Grandstand (TennGrand.com) Episode 7: Miami Open ATP & WTA Discussion Courtney Massey, Tennis Atlantic
In this weeks episode of Courtside, our own Courtney Massey aka The Traveling Fangirl steps into the hosting chair and is joined by fellow Tennis Atlantic journalists, Niall Clarke and Joe Craven. The main focus is aimed at the men’s and women’s action in Miami, Florida. The trio break down the ATP and WTA draws with their surprises and predictions, followed by a discussion about the players and what they prefer watching as a fan, and later on Courtney gives you some “In Case You Missed It” moments that happened on social media. This episode takes a lot of unique and comedic turns that included professional wrestling references, bird lingo, and playful digs at one another. You don’t want to miss this one!
We hope you enjoy this week’s episode and return to Tennis Atlantic for everything tennis! Remember, feedback is encouraged so let us know what you think of Courtside. Feel free to follow the new official twitter account of the show @CourtsideCast . Questions. Comments. We love it all! Thank you!
Stan Wawrinka narrowly avoided his second shocking opening round match loss in a row, as he had to scrape past the gritty Carlos Berlocq 6-7(9) 7-5 6-2, on a windy afternoon at the Miami Open. Wawrinka opened the match in the same poor form that had seen him exit the Indian Wells masters tournament to underdog Robin Haase in his last match, and Berlocq clearly was spurred on by that previous upset, as he fully believed he could win the match, at least for the first two hours of it.
Berlocq staved off two match point chances to hold 2-2 in the first, and then shockingly broke Wawrinka for 4-3. Wawrinka would calmly, and easily break him back, evening the match up, but the Swiss couldn’t convert a set point chance 5-4 up, on the Argentine veteran’s serve to clinch the opening frame. Berlocq ball bashed his way to a first set tiebreak, and it was handled incredibly poorly by both players. Wawrinka had to save a multitude of set points, some of which were on Berlocq’s serve, and couldn’t convert his own, eventually letting the Argentine close it out 11-9, in an error filled, and sloppy first set. At the end of the set, Wawrinka sent his racquet on a ride enraged at having blown his chance at a routine victory against an underdog opponent, and guaranteed the need for three sets of tennis if he was to come back, which is never something a top player wants in the opening round.
Wawrinka got off to a good start in set 2, and broke Berlocq at love, as the Argentine was perhaps still delirious from his tiebreak triumph. He would recover, breaking back for 2-2. He later saved break points for a 4-3 lead, but Wawrinka would save a pair serving 3-4 to prevent the Argentine from having the chance to serve out the match. Berlocq would be broken on the third break point chance of the game at 5-5, and Wawrinka would eventually close out the second set 7-5 on his third set point chance, as it was a long and grinding game.
Come the third set, Wawrinka had the momentum, and the hopes of Berlocq began to fade, Wawrinka rushed out to a 5-1 lead, and though Berlocq would save a match point on his own serve, in what was a long game at 1-5, Wawrinka would close the match out on his fourth chance to do so, finishing 6-2, as the third set was still quite long, and more challenging than the scoreline would indicate for the Swiss number 2. All the same, he will be pleased with his tenacious victory, having mentally overcome the horrors of Indian Wells.
Joining Wawrinka in the third round is another player top player who has been prone to be upset this year, that being Spanish lefty Rafael Nadal, as he blitzed past his countryman, and occasional rival Nicolas Almagro 6-4 6-2.
Rafa was trademark quality in his opening match in Miami (photo credit Esam Taha)
The world #3 took on a somewhat on form Almagro in a tricky matchup. Almagro had to battle past Sergiy Stakhovsky in the 1st round, who’s in the form of his career, and staved off a massive collapse to do so. Nico himself has been finding his rhythm lately after the injury layoff, making a deep run in Buenos Aires before losing to Monaco in the semifinal. Nadal meanwhile has been looking like a shadow of his old self since returning from injury. Having said that he looked much better in Indian Wells, although he would lose to a Raonic that he would’ve likely put away a couple of years ago. Playing well in Miami would provide the Spaniard with a pivotal confidence boost entering the clay season.
The first set didn’t start off the way Rafa would’ve liked, piling on unforced error early on as he struggled to hold serve. Almagro meanwhile looked much sharper, getting nice pace on his forehands and placing the one-handed backhand well. However, completely against the run of play, Nadal would find a way to break Almagro to take a 2-1 lead, as the latter double faulted and missed a forehand sitter. Nadal would consolidate the break to go up 3-1. Nico would not be let down by the break and continue to put Nadal on the backfoot with some attractive attacking tennis, holding at love to keep the lead at a single break. Nadal still seemed a bit shaky with several shanks and uncharacteristic misses, but managed to hold serve to keep the lead at 4-2. Nico’s level at this point would start to deteriorate, committing error after error, but he still managed to hold.
At this moment in the match the tennis wasn’t of the highest quality. Almagro would sum that period of play by producing back to back double faults, falling into a 0-30 hole. He would regain his composure with some good serving and force Rafa to serve out the set at 5-4. Almagro would somehow keep himself in that pivotal game despite not playing his best tennis, and eventually generate double break point. Nadal however would step his game up, he had started to find his groove towards the tail-end of the 1st set. Both break points were be saved. Almagro would have another break chance but blew that as well. The set was be sealed with the point of the match. Nadal played incredible defense to keep himself in a point, that Almagro virtually won twice, before turning defense into offense with a blistering DTL forehand winner to freeze a stunned Almagro. The Miami crowd going wild at the beautifully played point.
Nico was feisty on the day but came up short (photo credit Esam Taha)
Almagro still had some fight left in him, he would hold with relative comfort to kick things off in the 2nd. Nadal would hold easily and it was clear to the crowd that the 4-time Miami Open finalist had elevated his level. Rafa was now hitting his spots and Almagro was having trouble dealing with the massive top spin the former generates. It didn’t surprise the crowd when Nadal broke a game later on double break point to go up 2-1. He would follow that with a quick love hold and generating break points again on Nico’s serve. Rafa would flash some of his doubles skills with some almost super-human reflexes at the net to generate those break points, leaving Almagro standing with his hand on his hips completely deflated. Nadal would get the break and put a firm grip on the set going up 4-1. Even when Nadal gifts Nico a couple of double faults, the latter found a way to not take advantage, this time he would miss a routine overhead smash. Nadal would serve at 5-2 to close out the match, and face little resistance from Almagro as he wrapped up a relatively routine 2nd round victory 6-4, 6-2.
Vamos! (photo credit Esam Taha)
After the match Nadal commented on his ankle in press, “I am well, no? I had just a little bit, how do you say, small torn in the beginning, so it was going to be tough. The day after I had pain, but after 2 days I improved 50% and stays the same. It’s not limiting my movements.” It appears Nadal is growing in confidence the more hard court matches he plays this season, as he was better here than in most of his Indian Wells matches.
Tomas Berdych, who may be on a track to face Nadal later on in the tournament, was also a winner today 6-3 6-4, as he had the early match against the South Korean teen Hyeon Chung, and adapted well to the conditions, and his unfamiliarity with Chung. The Korean young gun hung in there with the powerful Czech until he was broken to go down 4-2 in the first set, and though he responded boldly by breaking back, he couldn’t hold his serve in the next game, and eventually Berdych held to take it 6-3.
In the second set, Chung shockingly broke Berdych for 3-1, and was at one point 4-1 up, only to lose the plot, and find Berdych come back on him to even it up at 4-4. His inexperienced showed at that point, as he lost the next two games, and in fact five consecutive games from 4-1 in the second set, to lose the match in straight sets. He has a lot of raw potential, but it’s still going to be some time, and experience needed before he is a true threat to upset top 10 players like Berdych.
Tomas’s doppleganger, and most frequent opponent on the ATP Tour, Kevin Anderson, snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat 6-7 7-6 6-4 against Sam Querrey, a player he has struggled with before, and did for large parts of today. Though big Kev is ranked more than two spots higher than Querrey in the rankings, they were quite evenly matched on court. With big serving and powerful forehands the norm, Anderson saved a pair of break points in the first set, eventually forcing a tiebreak. Shockingly, both players saw their serve desert them in that tiebreak, but eventually Querrey would convert his second set point chance to take it.
In the second, Anderson had to break back Querrey twice, once 3-4 down, and the second time 5-6 down, when Querrey was serving for the match. The South African number 1, who rarely breaks his opponents serve, amazingly broke a choking Querrey from 0-40 in that final game of the second set. They went to another tiebreak, and Anderson continued his momentum, racing out to a 5-1 lead, that he never looked back from, finishing it off 7-3 to force a third set.
Querrey is severely lacking confidence in his game, and just like in Indian Wells where he lost a set and a break up against Sergiy Stakhovsky, he lost hope in the third, Anderson broke in the opening game, and then bludgeoned the American on serve to eventually close it out on his only match point chance 6-4.
We could see Anderson matchup with Andy Murray, playing at his personal training facility this week, later in the tournament. Murray dominated Donald Young yet again, 6-4 6-2. Murray had a minor slip up, after gathering a big lead 5-1 in the first, but otherwise Young was abysmally confident as he got ran off the court by the time the second set came around.
Austin Krajicek put up a valiant effort at an upset, but he would be the final domino that would confirm an 0-3 record for American men in day 4. Krajicek fell to Bernard Tomic 7-6 7-5, in a closely contested match, as Tomic had to work his way back into form from injury problems in Indian Wells, where he was a quarter-finalist. Other players into round 3 include Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (6-4 6-4 over J.L. Struff), Leonardo Mayer (6-4 7-6 over Jarkko Nieminen), Santiago Giraldo, who regained some form of his own, and snapped Robin Haase’s sudden momentum, with a 6-2 3-6 6-0 victory, and Dominic Thiem, who beat Feliciano Lopez for the second time in his career.
The Spanish slice server Flopez, who remains markedly improved as of late compared to his previous history, played a solid first set and got off to a strong start, but he failed to maintain his break of serve 4-2 up, and later he would be forced into a tiebreak, as Thiem would erase any chance at another break of serve. In that tiebreak, Thiem played brilliant tactically and technically, getting the one minibreak of serve he needed to go up a set. Lopez fought back, breaking to go up 4-2 in the second, and this time he fought off break point chances (two of them to be exact at 4-3), to eventually hold and force a third set. Lopez almost seemed fatigued in the third, as Thiem played some of his best tennis, and perhaps his best match of 2015, to score what is in fact the best win of the year for the Austrian young gun. He saved a trio of break point chances at 1-1 in the third, and never looked back, breaking for 3-1 and holding serve for a 7-6 4-6 6-3 victory. Thiem masterfully dealt with Lopez’s serve and volley aggressive, not getting rushed, or forcing his shots too much, his gameplan was executed to its peak, and he hit some masterful shots, especially passing shots, to the thrill of the crowd, in what was a high quality contest, with either player likely to beat many other players in the field, had they faced someone else.
All of the big names got through their 2nd round singles matches on Friday in Miami on the WTA side. Sloane Stephens beat fellow American Madison Keys in a slugfest 6-4 6-2, in what was a big win for her. Belinda Bencic beat Casey Dellacqua in an unexpected 3 set struggle 6-2 4-6 6-2, and Simona Halep ended, what would have been a cinderella run, from comeback kid Nicole Vaidisova 6-2 2-6 6-1. Still the Czech has to be pleased with her performance this tournament as a wild card, and taking a set off an elite WTA player bodes well for the rest of her season.
Sabine Lisicki beat her countrywoman Julia Goerges 7-6 6-7 6-4 in a matchup featuring power tennis at its best, Cici Bellis continued to make everyone feel old, as the 15 year old shocked a listless Zarina Diyas, the world number 32 in a mere hour 6-2 6-1. Italians Flavia Pennetta and Camila Giorgi both had the mojo to win, Pennetta 6-7 6-3 6-3 over Tsvetana Pironkova. and Giorgi more easily 6-3 6-2 over Alison Van Uytvanck. Garbine Muguruza was another seeded winner 6-1 6-3 over Sesil Karatantcheva, Ana Ivanovic avoided a collapse and slipped past American Irina Falconi 7-5 6-7 6-3. Ivanovic had three match points in the second set and served for the match. Victoria Azarenka destroyed Jelena Jankovic, who was likely fatigued, 6-1 6-1, Svetlana Kuznetsova relied on her experienced to beat Alison Riske 6-2 6-2 and Johanna Larsson upset Lucie Safarova 7-6 6-2, one of the few WTA upsets on the day.
The big doubles match of the day, and one of the biggest matches on the day in general, featured Novak Djokovic and Janko Tipsarevic, good friends and both leaders of Serbian tennis, teaming up to take on Robert Lindstedt and Jurgen Melzer. It was Tipsarevic’s first match back on tour in over a year, since more surgeries and a benign tumor in his foot kept him sidelined. The Serbian veteran baseliner was happy to be back on court, and not only seemed to relish playing with Novak, he also played well for himself, hitting some great shots, as did the world number 1. However, Lindstedt/Melzer play doubles much more often for a living, and their experience helped them to a 6-4 3-6 10-7 victory.
After the match, Novak did press, and here is what he had to say about his role in supporting his former top 10 countryman and friend, Tipsarevic.
“Yeah. It’s incredibly sad story with him in last 17 months. I know him for such a long time. We are great friends. His last official match was in October 2013, and ever since then he was suffering from injuries. Mostly from the heel that he had to operate I think two or three times. Along the way he also hurt some other muscles and joints. Just a very dreadful time for him. I tried to, as a friend and as a colleague, be close to him, to give him support, to let him know that I’m there and I wish him to have a speedy recovery and to come back as quick as possible. So the opportunity to play today with him was very special for me, really, as a friend and I cared very much to win this match today. I got very tight in the super-tiebreaker, I have to say, because it was a very tough match. We lost to two of the great, very good doubles players. But we talked after the match, and he appreciated the fact that he can actually play. Just feel that match play you know, have that sensation of how it feels and what it takes to be on the court. 17 month is a long time for injuries, and he’s also not young. You know, he’s now 31 this year, but he’s eager to play. He’s motivated. He feels 100% and he decided actually it’s better to skip this tournament in singles because he needed to a little bit more time to get in to it. Hopefully this doubles match today can help him. When he plays now in Houston after Miami he can perform his best. He can relax. He know, that’s the top 10. I really wish him that.”
Tipsarevic seemed to be pleased with his level of play, and given his general ease out there, I expect to see him fit, healthy, and perhaps causing some surprises the rest of the season, just like another Serb who made a recent comeback, Viktor Troicki did.
The other ATP doubles winners were Ryan Harrison/Rajeev Ram (1-6 6-4 10-4 over Eric Butorac/Sam Groth), and Nicolas Mahut/Edouard Roger-Vasselin (6-3 1-0 ret. over Viktor Troicki/Roberto Bautista Agut).
Martina Hingis and her partner Sania Mirza advanced over Bodgan/Melichar in WTA doubles 6-1 6-0, and in other scores, Babos/Mladenovic beat Date-Krumm/Pliskova 6-2 6-7 13-11, Dabrowski/Rosolska beat Medina/Tomljanovic 7-6 6-3, Hlavackova/Hradecka beat Aoyama/Voracova 7-5 4-6 10-5, and Makarova/Vesina, an all Russian pair, beat Krajicek/Zahlavova-Strycova 6-2 2-6 10-4.
Rain suspension adds to busy Saturday schedule in Crandon Park
The night matches were canceled due to rain in Miami, meaning the Saturday schedule is jam packed. Serena Williams, Aga Radwanska, and Caroline Wozniacki will all be action on stadium court in WTA singles, while top men’s players on stadium will be Novak Djokovic in the evening, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Grigor Dimitrov during the day.
Kei Nishikori will take to grandstand, as will top American John Isner, Venus Wiliams, and Milos Raonic, the Manitoba missile. American Jack Sock got pushed onto court 1, along with David Ferrer, talented shotmaker Alex Dolgopolov, and the Bryan Brothers.
Eugenie Bouchard, Gael Monfils, Borna Coric. Ernests Gulbis, and many other other intriguing, and fan favorite players have been pushed onto the outer courts given the tight schedule tomorrow.
As for matches in progress before the rain delay, Adrian Mannarino and Albert Ramos were locked in a struggle, one set each, before the rains came, and they will conclude with the third set of their match on Saturday. Two other WTA singles matches were also well underway at the time the rain struck, Heather Watson had dropped the first set to Angelique Kerber 7-5, and Sara Errani was on the verge of closing out Anatasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1 4-1.
Day 3 at the Miami Open featured a diverse offering of upsets, and none was bigger than 21 year old Daria Gavrilova’s shocking upset over world number 2 Maria Sharapova, a five time Miami Open finalist, who had never exited this early in the tournament before. The crowd was shocked and thrilled by the play of the young Russian with Australian ties, and here is a recap of that.
Daria Gavrilova d. Maria Sharapova 7-6(4) 6-3
The night session kicked off with an all-Russian duel between Maria Sharapova and her young up and coming compatriot Daria Gavrilova, in a match that would become a memorable first meeting for the pair. There was some intrigue to this matchup given the stark contrast between the 2 players. Sharapova standing at 6’2’’ tall towered over Daria at 5’5’’, the gulf of experience gap, and the contrasting strengths and weaknesses in their games, all recipes for an interesting tennis match…or of course a blowout as some had predicted. The result however, would be quite shocking.
Sharapova slumped in defeat (photo credit Esam Taha)
At first it felt like it might indeed be a blowout as Maria powered her way to a love hold as if Daria was still back at the hotel, but Gavrilova quickly responded with a comfortable hold of her own much to the crowd’s delight, as they love themselves an underdog. The next game would set the tone for the match. Sharapova would eventually save breakpoints but not before Daria displayed some breath-taking defense coupled with sharp forehands to which the crowd loudly responded, at that point you got the sense that this might not be so routine for the veteran. Gavrilova was impressively able to hold with relative comfort despite her lack of a big serve, but that was mainly due to some absolutely blistering groundstrokes that made Maria uncomfortable. It felt like once the rally got going Daria had a good chance of winning the point. The break would eventually come for the young Russian as she took a 3-2 lead, bringing the crowd to their feet.
However, Sharapova wasn’t going to rollover that easily, with a little help from the netcord she would break right back to even things up at 3-3. Daria wasn’t done. Her incredible ability to get to seemingly every ball would frustrate Maria forcing her to go for even tougher angles and riskier shots. Gavrilova broke Maria back and produced another fist pump as she has been all night, all positive body language from the 21 year old. At this point Maria was starting to rack up the unforced errors, but you could argue that some of them were forced in the sense that Daria was forcing her to go for tougher shots. Sharapova would successfully serve to stay in the set forcing Gavrilova to close it out herself, always a tricky position for young players. The veteran showed why she is regarded as one of the clutch-iest players in tennis, getting the timely break and evening things up at 5-5. The set would go to a tiebreak, with the crowd fully engaged. Gavrilova would draw first blood as she earned a pair of mini-breaks and jumped to a 4-2 lead in the breaker. Daria would then hit an ace down the T. Even Sharapova couldn’t believe it and had to unsuccessfully challenge the call while the former produced a series of fist pumps. Maria was rattled, she would commit a couple of silly unforced errors to lose the tiebreak and the 1st set to Gavrilova, setting the Miami crowd into eruption.
Gavrilova would waste no time carrying the momentum over to the 2nd set while Maria’s level seemed to continue to decline as the match wore out. Sharapova would double fault giving Daria an opening, which she took full advantage of and broke right away to open the set. Gavrilova would consolidate the break as she continued to display excellent court coverage and sharp groundstrokes, she went up 4-2 at this point. Maria was truly on the ropes now.
The next game would be a tricky one for the youngster, she misses a routine overhead smash and follows it with a poorly executed drop shot to gift the game away to Sharapova, a game she desperately needed. However once again, Gavrilova would reset and go right after Maria the next game, quickly generating a triple break point. The next point summed up the match as Daria went for the jugular with a blistering DTL backhand winner to seal the break and bring the crowds out of their seats. She’s been in the same position in the 1st set, but this time Daria would show better composure to generate a match-point at 40-30. Maria known to go for her shots when the stakes are highest, would try to do the same here but this was not her night. The return sailed long as Daria jumps up in joy to complete the huge upset over the world number 2.
Gavrilova held her nerve in the match (photo credit Esam Taha)
Prior to that thrilling match, a fun doubles match took place between Marin Draganja/Henri Kontinen, and the fan favorite doubles pairing of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils, who were both seeking to tune up their games after absences.
Marin Draganja/Henri Kontinen d. Gael Monfils/Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4-6 6-3 10-5
The French duo were both returning from injuries as they took the court for this one, Tsonga particularly a lengthy one, as they were teaming up in doubles to shake some of that rust off, and perhaps give themselves more practice for Davis Cup play or similar. Whenever Monfils or Tsonga is on court the crowd knows they’re in for a good show, thusly, court 1 was packed as fans were lining up in big numbers to catch a glimpse of the match. Marin and Henri, both doubles specialists, were the clear favorites going with their doubles experience, however the match would prove to be much tighter than expected.
Monfils and Tsonga were looking to knock off rust (photo credit Esam Taha)
From the start, you wouldn’t have been able to tell that the Frenchmen were returning from injury as their athleticism was on full display. Monfils was flying around and Tsonga wasn’t holding back, there was rust here and there from a technical perspective, but physically they were in good shape. The French duo would be pushed a few times on their serves midway through the set but they had no problem saving multiple break points. In contrast, Monfils and Tsonga would jump on the first break opportunity they get later in the set and convert to claim the 1st.
Photo credit Esam Taha
The rust started to show a bit in the 2nd. In terms of pure talent alone the French were clearly ahead of the Marin/Henri but the latter relied on their experience to force the former into errors. Tsonga especially would make several key errors which included a costly double fault on break point. Monfils always kept things positive, the attitude was generally light-hearted, as it was clear the French team intended to enjoy their time on court and have fun. Marin/Henri would not look back after grabbing the break, they wouldn’t face a single break point in the 2nd. They would carry that same momentum into the 3rd set super tie-break.
Tsonga would commit another double fault and a couple of errors while Marin/Henri kept their composure to finish the French. Regardless, Gael and Jo most likely achieved their primary purpose of participating in doubles, knock off some rust from the injury layoff, get a feel for the courts and heat during match-play, and of course put on an entertaining show for the crowd.
Steve Darcis d. Malek Jaziri 2-6 7-5 7-5
A couple of veterans faced off in the 1st round, Malek Jaziri would take on Steve Darcis for the right to face Giles Muller in the 2nd round. Jaziri hasn’t been able to get any serious momentum going this year, his best showing so far is making it to the 3rd round in the Australian Open. Meanwhile Darcis made a little run in Montpellier only to lose to Monfils in the quarters. At first it seemed like this was going to be a routine win for the Tunisian as he quickly took the 1st set 6-2 and was up a break on the 2nd, serving for the match at 5-3. Everything that could’ve went wrong for Jaziri at that point, did. It started with a couple of calls Jaziri didn’t like, after which he just seemed to completely go of the rails racking up unforced errors at an alarming rate. He would get broken at 5-3 and Darcis,, a qualifier, would win 4 consecutive games to take the 2nd. Meanwhile Jaziri also seemed to be affected by the scorching Miami sun as he continued to pile ice packs during changeovers, to the point where the umpire would issue a time violation.
Jaziri lost his nerve in the match (photo credit Esam Taha)
Things seemed to follow a similar trend early in the 3rd as the wise veteran Darcis would make it 6 games in a row as he broke Jaziri again and jumped to a 2-1 lead. Jaziri however started to regain his composure at that point and was adding some pop to his forehands, he was also defending much better. The Tunisian would continue to hold but still couldn’t find that opening for the break. At 5-4, Steve had a chance to serve out the match, only for Malek to step it up one more notch and keep himself in the match, 5-5.
Just as you’d expect the pendulum to swing the other way, with one point changing everything. Malek constructed a point beautifully only to hit a routine volley just wide. That crowd gasped as they knew this one was going cost him, and surely he would get broken again. This time Darcis would keep his composure and comfortably serve out the match to conclude quite the rollercoaster of a 1st round clash. Jaziri was visibly disheartened, he knew he let one get away, but credit to Steve for outplaying Jaziri the 2nd half of the match.
Darcis a calm winner (photo credit Esam Taha)
Coric and Bellucci outlast their opponents, Kukushkin upsets Johnson in ATP round 1 singles action
young gun Borna Coric nearly fell Andreas Haider-Maurer, as he was 0-3 down in the third set, but the Croat would survive, as he faced a much tougher task against AHM than he had previously in their Indian Wells match. Haider-Maurer got off to a spirited start firing winners for a 6-1 lead, Coric would recover from the shock and break AHM in his opening service game in the second set, holding serve the rest of the way to force a third. In that third, Coric had to call the trainer 0-3 down, looking wasted in the heat but what the trainer did seemed to help him as he pulled it all the way back to 5-5, at which point AHM started to cramp, and though Coric couldn’t serve it out at 6-5, he had a major advantage in the third set tiebreak and got the job done.
Thomaz Bellucci also had to survive in advance in the late match against Lleyton Hewitt. The gritty former world number one refused to go away in a three hour match that went past midnight local time. Both players racked up a horrendous W/UE ratio as Bellucci was 39/71 in his 7-5 6-7 6-4 victory, compared to Hewitt’s 23/61 ratio. Hewitt was a miserable 3/15 on break points, and by the time the third set came both players seemed exhausted. Hewitt didn’t have as much pop as Bellucci did from the ground, and his serving also didn’t do him many favors, as with consistency lacking, the grinder struggled and went down 4-2 in the third. Bellucci would let him back in the match for 4-4 in the third, but would win the next two games from that point to finish the match off.
Mikhail Kukushkin demonstrated his good form had returned with a 6-4 3-6 6-2 victory over favored American Steve Johnson. He went 4/5 on break points and was superior overall to Stevie who posted 5 double faults.
Vasek Pospisil won 6-4 7-6 over the returning Juan Martin Del Potro. The tower of Tandil was rusty as expected, he put up just 8 winners compared to 25 errors in the match, and also had more double faults (7) than aces (6). He was rather passive throughout the match as his backhand was poor, and Pospisil, though he was shaky for parts, was able to escape in straights from 2-4 down in the second set, as he fought back and played a solid tiebreak.
Other men advancing into round 2 include Mikhail Youzhny 4-6 6-2 6-3 over Andrey Golubev, as the veteran recovered from a slow start, and qualifier Alejandro Falla who beat Michael Berrer 6-7 6-4 6-4 in a close contest. Teymuraz Gabashvili and Federico Delbonis both won 3 set matches, Gabashvili 0-6 7-6 6-3 over Pablo Andujar for his first win of the year at the ATP level, and Delbonis 7-6 3-6 7-5 over a slumping Jiri Vesely, who has been in awful form since his maiden ATP title in January. Young guns Andrey Rublev and Alex Zverev, played well in their matches. Rublev beat Pablo Carreno Busta 1-6 6-1 6-4 as he maintained his composure after a poor start, and Zverev survived the massive serves of Sam Groth 7-5 6-7 6-4, as he did well to play only one tiebreak.
Martin Klizan (6-3 6-4 over Paolo Lorenzi), Jurgen Melzer (7-6 6-4 over Ryan Harrison), and Alex Dolgopolov (6-4 6-1 over Ricardas Berankis) rolled in their matches. Jerzy Janowicz won yet again over Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-4 6-2, and Simone Bolelli drubbed a listless Marcos Baghdatis 6-2 6-2 in a minor upset.
Svitolina, Pliskova continue momentum in WTA singles
Elina Svitolina, a rising 20 year old Ukrainian, and Karolina Pliskova,a rising 23 year old Czech, were both winners and booked their spot in the third round on Thursday. Svitolina beat Bojana Jovanovski 6-3 7-6, and Pliskova beat Annika Beck 2-6 6-3 6-4, as both players struggled on serve in that match.
Agnieszka Radwanska (6-4 7-5 over Anna Schmiedlova), Venus Williams (6-3 6-2 over Aga’s sister Urszula), Caroline Wozniacki (6-0 6-1 over Madison Brengle), Andrea Petkovic (6-2 6-2 over Christina McHale), Ekaterina Makarova (6-1 6-3 over Karin Knapp), Carla Suarez Navarro (6-3 6-1 over Stefanie Voegele) , and Sam Stosur (6-1 3-6 6-0 over Pauline Parmentier) were all winning seeds in the second round on the WTA side.
Seeds Varvara Lepchenko (6-2 6-4 to Kaia Kanepi), Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (7-5 6-2 to Kristina Mladenovic), and 21 year old Caroline Garcia, who had her momentum halted with an opening match loss (6-3 7-6 to Kurumi Nara, a 23 year old), were not as lucky however as they were bounced in their opening matches.
The other round 2 winners on the day were 17 year old wild card Paula Badosa Gibert (6-1 7-5 over Saisai Zheng), Alize Cornet (6-4 6-1 over Elena Vesnina) and Irina-Camelia Begu (5-7 6-4 6-4 over Tereza Smitkova in one of the rare 3 setters on the WTA side on the day).
Jamie Murray/John Peers, Rodionova sisters lead doubles winners on the day
The doubles action got underway at the Miami Open on the outer courts, and John Peers and Jamie Murray got off to a good start 6-3 6-2 over Lukas Rosol and Dominic Thiem. They were joined on the mens doubles side as winners by Quisner (John Isner and Sam Querrey), who upset Rohan Bopanna/Daniel Nestor 6-3 7-6, Andre Begemann and Ernests Gulbis, who recovered from an atrocious start to topple David Marrero/Pablo Cuevas 1-6 6-4 10-7, Nicolas Almagro/Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, an all-Spanish pairing who beat the French pair of Gilles Simon/Adrian Mannarino 6-3 6-2, and Kevin Anderson/Jeremy Chardy, who upset Marcin Matkowski/Nenad Zimonjic 6-3 6-3.
In WTA doubles, the feisty pairing of Anastasia and Arina Rodionova beat Casey Dellacqua/Darija Jurak 6-3 7-6, German pairing Julia Goerges/Anna-Lena Groenefeld beat Magdalena Rybarikova/Saisai Zheng 7-6 4-6 10-8, Vera Dushevina and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez beat American pairing Abigail Spears and Raquel Kops-Jones 2-6 6-3 10-2 and Alla Kudryatseva and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat Klara Koukalova and Katerina Siniakova 6-2 6-0.
Andy Murray, Simona Halep, Rafa Nadal, Serena Williams, and the return of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are all highlights on day 4, along with Stan Wawrinka and Gael Monfils looking to return to form, and the return of Janko Tipsarevic to pro tennis, as he will play doubles with Novak Djokovic.
Juan Martin Del Potro will attempt to make yet another comeback, his second this season, after more wrist problems, as he will take on Canadian Vasek Pospisil on stadium court in Miami on day 3 of the 2015 Miami Open. Del Potro is likely to have tapered his expectations for this tournament and should be happy to be out on court in good health and good spirits under the sunshine, that said Pospisil exactly in great form at the moment, so a win is possible as well for the Argentina former top 10 player and Grand Slam champion.
Speaking of Grand Slam Champions, Lleyton Hewitt and Venus Williams, both veteran legends of the game will be starring in the night session. Venus takes on Urszula Radwanska, the less accomplished half of another WTA sister act pairing on tour, and Hewitt will cap off the night in Miami against Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci, who is likely to bring a sizable cheering contingent with him given the latin flair that is prevalent in Miami. In between those matches will be an all-Russian encounter between Maria Sharapova and Daria Gavrilova. Gavrilova, a qualifier, is six years younger than Masha, and only recently broke into the top 100, thus it will be a stiff hill to climb given Sharapova has only lost twice this season.
In other stadium court matches, Agnieszka Radwanska the 7 seed will face Anna Schmiedlova, and Marcos Baghdatis will dual with Simone Bolleli in an unpredictable shotmakers pairing before Del Potro takes the court.
Over on grandstand, veteran Mikhail Youzhny will try to stop his slump against Andrey Golubev, young gun Borna Coric will look to defeat Andreas Haider-Maurer for the second time in as many weeks, and fan favorite Caroline Wozniacki will take on American Madison Brengle before Ricardas Berankis and Alex Dolgopolov square off in the final match scheduled for the grandstand court before the night session match that will feature speedy American Ryan Harrison against crafty left -handed veteran Jurgen Melzer.
Notable matches on the outer courts include Americans Steve Johnson (vs. Mikhail Kukushkin) and Christina McHale (vs. Andrea Petkovic the 9 seed) in action on court 1, along with Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga playing doubles together on that court around 4 P.M.. Young gun wild card Andrey Rublev will take to court 2 against Pablo Carreno Busta, after 23 seed Sam Stosur takes on Pauline Parmentier, and prior to that QuIsner (John Isner and Sam Querrey) will face accomplished doubles veterans Daniel Nestor and Rohan Bopanna.
Over a dozen more matches will take place all across the grounds in Miami, and we’ll have a full recap for you at the end the evening of day 3 action, so stay tuned for that and enjoy the 2015 Miami Open presented by Itau, whether you’re attending in person, or following virtually.
Tennis Atlantic 