Djokovic Faces Berdych In Miami QF Action

The quarter-finals in the top half of the draw on Wednesday are headlined by  No. 1 and five-time Miami Open champion Novak Djokovic, No. 7 Tomas Berdych, No. 15 David Goffin and No. 18 Gilles Simon. Goffin is the only player of the foursome appearing in his first Miami quarter-final. On Thursday in the bottom half of the draw, No. 6 Kei Nishikori will take on No. 16 Gael Monfils and No. 12 Milos Raonic will meet No. 24 Nick Kyrgios. This is the first time since 2013 that two Frenchmen are in the quarter-finals in Miami.

In the third match on Stadium, No. 15 seed Goffin and No. 18 Simon meet for the second time. In their previous meeting in the 1R at the Queen’s Club in London last June, Simon rallied to win 67 75 62. Goffin is the first Belgian man to reach the quarter-finals in the tournament’s 32-year history and he’s trying to advance to his second straight ATP Masters 1000 semi-final after reaching the final four in Indian Wells (l. to Raonic). The 31-year-old Simon, who is the oldest player remaining, is appearing in his third quarter-final in Miami (2011, ’13, ’16) and he’s trying to become the first Frenchman to reach the semi-finals here since Gasquet in 2013. The only Frenchman to reach the final was Sebastien Grosjean in 1999 (l. to Krajicek).

In the evening session, top-ranked Djokovic brings a 22-2 career record (19-0 on hard courts) against No. 7 Berdych, who is trying to break a nine-match losing streak against the Serb. Berdych’s last win came in the QF at ATP Masters 1000 Rome in 2013. Djokovic has won 13 straight matches in Miami (27 of the last 28 back to 2011) since a 4R loss to Tommy Haas in 2013. Djokovic comes in with a 25-1 match record on the season (7-0 vs. Top 10 opponents). He’s won 19 of his last 20 matches vs. Top 10 foes since the beginning of the US Open with his only loss coming to Federer in round robin play at the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. Djokovic is chasing Andre Agassi’s tournament record six titles and he’s trying to take sole possession of the ATP Masters 1000 titles leaderboard. He and Nadal are each tied with 27 career titles. Djokovic has reached the final in his last 10 ATP Masters 1000 tournaments (DNP ’15 Madrid) going back to 2014 Paris-Bercy. During that stretch, he has compiled a 53-2 record.

In doubles quarter-final action, only two seeds remain: No. 4/two-time reigning champions Bob and Mike Bryan along with No. 5/ Indian Wells champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut. The Bryans are scheduled for fourth match on Stadium against Aussie wild cards Omar Jasika and John-Patrick Smith. The Bryans are looking to become the first team to win three straight Miami titles since Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde from 1995-97. Leander Paes won three straight titles with as many partners from 2010-12. The Bryans have won a record 109 titles together, their last coming in Montreal last August. They have won Miami titles in 2007-08, ’14-15. Their best result of the season was a runner-up in Delray Beach last month (l. to Marach-F. Martin).

Of the remaining quarter-finalists, the only other former Miami champion is four-time winner (2003, ’05-06, ’09) Max Mirnyi, who is playing with Treat Huey. They are third match-on Grandstand against the second-time duo of John Isner and Nicholas Monroe.