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Wawrinka Faces Zverev; Federer, Nadal, Nishikori In Miami Action Tuesday

  • Posted: Mar 28, 2017

Wawrinka Faces Zverev; Federer, Nadal, Nishikori In Miami Action Tuesday

All Round of 16 matches to be played Tuesday

View FedEx ATP Head2Head for the following match-ups & vote for the players you think will win!
Wawrinka vs Zverev  |  Federer vs Bautista Agut  |  Nadal vs Mahut  |  Nishikori vs Delbonis

View Round of 16 schedule

• DAY 7 PREVIEW: Tuesday at the Miami Open, presented by Itau, features all eight fourth-round matches, including four of the top five seeds: No. 1 Stan Wawrinka, No. 2 Kei Nishikori, No. 4 Roger Federer, and No. 5 Rafael Nadal. The field also features three Americans (No. 13 Jack Sock, Donald Young, and qualifier Jared Donaldson), the most since 2004, when there were four (Roddick-Won, Spadea-SF, Agassi-4R, Martin-4R). Six players are looking to reach their first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final: No. 16 Alexander Zverev, Federico Delbonis, Nicolas Mahut, Adrian Mannarino, along with Donaldson and Young. Zverev, at 19, is the youngest player in the field, while Federer, at 35, is the oldest. There are 11 countries represented in the 4R, led by the U.S. (3), France (2), Spain (2) and Switzerland (2). One Each: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, and Japan.

Opening the day’s action on Stadium, Nishikori faces Delbonis, who upset No. 15 Carreno Busta in the second round. Delbonis is one of five unseeded players (compared to only three seeds) remaining in the bottom half of the draw, while in the top half, only one unseeded competitor has made it this far. Nishikori, a finalist in Miami last year (l. to Djokovic), won the only previous meeting between the two, a 2011 qualifying-round encounter in Rome.

Next up on the men’s Stadium slate, Nadal plays Mahut for the first time since 2011. Nadal played his 1,000th career match on Sunday, overcoming a 0-6 score in the first set to defeat Kohlschreiber in three. Mahut defeated Pella in straight sets on Sunday, and upset No. 23 Johnson in the second round. The career head-to-head is knotted at one apiece; Nadal won the last encounter via retirement at the 2011 US Open.

Rounding out the Stadium court day session, Federer goes toe-to-toe with No. 14 Roberto Bautista Agut. The Swiss star has never lost a set against the Spainard, claiming all 12 sets in their previous five encounters. Like this one, four of their past matches have taken place in the round of 16. Federer service games will be a clash of titans: Fed has been broken only once in two matches here, while Bautista Agut leads the field in rate of return games won, having broken his opponents in 11 of 23 tries.

The evening session concludes with both of last year’s losing semi-finalists, No. 12 Nick Kyrgios and No. 8 David Goffin. Their only previous match was last year’s Tokyo final, in which Kyrgios triumphed in three sets. Both men needed three sets yesterday as well, with Kyrgios edging Karlovic in a deciding-set tiebreak, and Goffin coming back to overcome Schwartzman.

The first two matches on Grandstand feature the American hopes, beginning with an unseeded clash between Young and Fabio Fognini, who has lost to the American in both previous meetings. In his third-round defeat of Paire, Young improved to a tour-best 10-1 in tiebreaks this season, and if he reaches the quarterfinal, it will be the first time since 2008 that two Americans reached the final eight (Roddick, Blake). After that is the all-American fourth-rounder between Sock and Donaldson, the first encounter between the two. Sock is tied with four other players (including Goffin) with 17 wins on the season, while Donaldson is trying to become the first qualifier since Canas (2007, l. to Djokovic) to reach the quarterfinals.

The second half of the Grandstand slate begins with No. 10 Tomas Berdych—making his fifth consecutive appearance in the Miami fourth round, and 9th in 10 years—against Mannarino, in his second round-of-16 showing (2015, l. to Thiem). Berdych has won all three matches between the two, and is one of only four players remaing (w/ Federer, Wawrinka, Sock) who have yet to drop a set. Last up is top seed Wawrinka against Zverev, who needed to save match point and fight through three tiebreaks to oust Isner last night. Wawrinka is celebrating his 32nd birthday, an anniversary he hopes to mark by reaching his first-ever Miami quarter-final. He and Zverev have played once before, in last year’s St. Petersburg final, where Zverev came out on top to win his first-ever ATP World Tour title.

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Johanna Konta beats Lara Arruabarrena to reach last eight in Miami

  • Posted: Mar 28, 2017

British number one Johanna Konta eased into the quarter-finals of the Miami Open with a 7-5 6-1 victory over Lara Arruabarrena.

Konta was given a testing time in the opening set by the Spaniard, who had won only one match this year prior to the tournament.

But 10th seed Konta’s serving was key and she broke Arruabarrena at 6-5 up before going on to dominate.

Konta will now play third seed Simona Halep in the last eight.

Romanian Halep saved a match point before beating Australian Sam Stosur 4-6 7-5 6-2.

“I felt I played myself more into the match a bit more,” said Konta, who is into the quarter-finals in Miami for the second successive year..

“As the match went on, I felt clearer and clearer on how I wanted to play and what I wanted to do out there from my perspective.

“I’m quite happy I was able to execute that reasonably well, and also make it tough for her to stay in that match with the level that she was playing at.”

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Top Seed Wawrinka Coasts To Meet #NextGenATP Zverev

  • Posted: Mar 28, 2017

Top Seed Wawrinka Coasts To Meet #NextGenATP Zverev

Swiss will try to achieve his best showing in Miami

Top seed Stan Wawrinka matched his best showing at the Miami Open presented by Itau on Monday night with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri. Wawrinka outplayed the 33-year-old veteran, who was trying to match his fourth-round showing at the BNP Paribas Open last week.

The Swiss right-hander saved all six break points and converted two of his four break chances during the 70-minute contest. Wawrinka will face #NextGenATP star Alexander Zverev in the fourth round on Tuesday.

Zverev won their only prior FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting, last year during the St. Petersburg Open final. But Wawrinka, the top seed at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament for the first time, will be trying to achieve his best showing in South Florida. The 31-year-old also reached the fourth round in Miami in 2009 (l. to Nadal) and 2014 (l. to Dolgopolov).

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#NextGenATP Zverev Saves Match Points In Miami

  • Posted: Mar 28, 2017

#NextGenATP Zverev Saves Match Points In Miami

German through to the fourth round of another Masters 1000

#NextGenATP star Alexander Zverev saved three match points and came back from a set down to beat American John Isner 6-7(5), 7-6(6), 7-6(5) on Monday at the Miami Open presented by Itau. The win pushes Zverev through to the fourth round of an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament for the second time. He also reached the round of 16 last year in Indian Wells (l. to Nadal).

On Stadium Court against Isner, the 19-year-old German was down match points at 5/6 in the second-set tie-break and 4-5, 15/40 in the third set. But the 6’6” right-hander erased them all, and on his first match point, Isner sailed a backhand long. Zverev raised his arms to the sky in celebration after the two-hour and 38-minute contest.

Zverev will face top seed Stan Wawrinka, who beat Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri 6-3, 6-4. Zverev beat Wawrinka during their only other FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting, the St. Petersburg Open final last year.

You May Also Like: Federer Surges Past del Potro In Miami

Nick Kyrgios, another top young player on the ATP World Tour, also advanced after a three-set battle against a big-serving veteran. The 21-year-old Aussie outlasted 6’11” Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(2) in two hours and 26 minutes.

Kyrgios failed to convert all seven break chances in the second set, but the 12th seed stayed the course in the decider and came through to reach the fourth round. Kyrgios will next meet eighth seed David Goffin, who beat Argentine Diego Schwartzman 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in two hours and 32 minutes.

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Federer Surges Past del Potro In Miami

  • Posted: Mar 28, 2017

Federer Surges Past del Potro In Miami

Swiss will face Bautista Agut in Miami fourth round

Roger Federer added another big win to his nearly invincible 2017 on Monday, fighting off Argentine Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the fourth round of the Miami Open presented by Itau.

Federer, a two-time Miami champion (2005-06), never lost his serve against the powerful right-hander, who had five break chances but couldn’t convert any of them. The win improves Federer to 15-1 on the season and 46-13 for his career at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament.

Federer also extends his FedEx ATP Head2Head series lead against del Potro to 16-5. Perhaps more impressive, the Swiss star adds del Potro’s name to his list of defeated opponents during his comeback season, a ledger that also includes Top 10 players Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori and Rafael Nadal.

In the round of 16, Federer will try to add 14th seed Roberto Bautista Agut to that list. The Spaniard came back to beat American Sam Querrey 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in one hour and 55 minutes.

You May Also Like: Berdych Powers Into Miami Fourth Round

The third-round showdown between Federer and del Potro was their first meeting since the round-robin stage of the 2013 ATP Finals, but they renewed their rivalry with vigor from the start on Monday afternoon. Federer sought to stay away from del Potro’s rocket forehand, targetting the backhand wing and seeking to catch del Potro favouring that side. Del Potro looked to crush his best stroke as often as he could.

But it was the 35-year-old Federer, as he has been all season long, who was more on point in front of a packed and boisterous crowd on Stadium Court. After failing to convert two break points at 3-2, Federer seized the occasion in the eighth game, ripping a forehand past del Potro, who left a backhand slice too short to challenge Federer.

Serving at 5-3, the fourth-seeded Swiss erased four break points and finished the set with a backhand drop shot that del Potro could only watch. Federer didn’t wait long to break in the second set, taking advantage of his first opportunity to go up 3-2. One break was all he would need as he served out their 20th FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting to love.

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