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.

Gael Monfils saw a career-best showing within striking distance and grabbed it Tuesday night at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

Monfils broke Grigor Dimitrov at 4-3 in the third set and served out their fourth-round match at love to come back from a set down and win 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3. Monfils has now beaten Dimitrov three consecutive times. He advances to the quarter-finals in Miami for the first time in his 12-year career.

The Frenchman had lost in the fourth round three times prior. In the final eight, he’ll play Japan’s Kei Nishikori, who routed Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 6-4 in 84 minutes on Tuesday night. 

Nishikori won his only prior meeting with Monfils 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 (Halle 2014).

“Kei is a very good player. He has been very consistent,” Monfils said.

Monfils entered the fourth-round match against Dimitrov with a 3-1 lead in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry. But the Bulgarian looked to be picking up where he left off on Monday, when he beat World No. 2 Andy Murray in three sets.

Dimitrov won the first set. In the second, though, Monfils raised his game. The 29-year-old broke Dimitrov twice and never faced a break point. In the third, he again broke the No. 26 seed twice and had the upper hand against Dimitrov during their extended rallies, including a 46-stroke rally in the third. About 20 per cent of their points during the match lasted longer than nine shots, and Monfils won more than 60 per cent of those longer points.

Nishikori steamrolled Bautista Agut, hitting 22 winners and breaking the Spaniard four times. During Bautista Agut’s third-round match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the Spaniard was broken just two times in three sets.

“It was a great match for me,” Nishikori said. “I played the way I wanted to play.”

Bautista Agut served well, landing 77 per cent of his first serves. But he never got going from the ground, spilling 23 unforced errors to eight winners.

Dominic Thiem pushed the World No. 1 on Tuesday, but the number 14 will haunt the 22-year-old from their fourth-round match. That was the number of break points Djokovic erased during their two-hour contest at the Miami Open on Tuesday.

The five-time Miami champion didn’t produce his best tennis but was as clutch on the biggest points and won a laborious contest 6-3, 6-4 against the No. 14 seed at Crandon Park.

Djokovic will face No. 7 seed Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals. The Serb holds a 22-2 lead in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry and has won their past nine matches.

He and Thiem’s fourth-round match lived up to its billing: The co-win leaders on the ATP World Tour this season facing off, an up-and-coming and confident star, Thiem, going against the World No. 1, who’s bidding for a sixth Miami title.

Djokovic gained the early advantage. He broke the Austrian during his first service game and fended off break point after break point to hold throughout the set.

It was never easy for Djokovic, though. He hit only six winners to 34 unforced errors. And he had to work to hold serve. Djokovic played 102 points on his serve while Thiem played 59 on his.

In the second set, Djokovic again earned an early break and looked to be in control of the match. At 3-2, though, Thiem finally broke Djokovic to tie the set when the Serb threw in a double fault, one of nine he committed during the match. But Djokovic quickly broke back to restore his lead.

Leading 5-4, he held off Thiem a few more times to win a 15-minute game and the match.

Milos Raonic and Nick Kyrgios will duel it out for a place in their first Miami Open semi-final after both posted straight-sets victories in fourth-round action on Tuesday.

Raonic, the No. 12 seed, is through to his second straight ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final after romping to a 6-0, 6-3 victory over unseeded Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, while Kyrgios advanced 7-6(3), 6-3 over Russian Andrey Kuznetsov.

The 25-year-old Raonic dropped just six points on his first serve throughout, finishing with 11 aces. He never faced a break point in the 54-minute affair.

The result matches the Canadian’s best run in Miami; a quarter-final finish two years ago (l. Nadal). It continues an impressive start to his season in which he extends his record to 17-2, which includes a run to last week’s BNP Paribas Open final at Indian Wells.

Dzumhur, at No. 94 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, was one of six players making his Miami Open fourth-round debut. The 23 year old led No. 5 seed Nadal 2-6, 6-4, 3-0 before the Spaniard retired due to dizziness in the second round. It marked his first victory over a Top 10 opponent.

Kyrgios and Kuznetsov were also making their fourth-round Miami debuts but it was Kyrgios who would prevail on the back of 11 aces. The 20 year old becomes the first Australian since Lleyton Hewitt to reach the quarter-finals in Miami 14 years ago and the youngest player to do so since Juan Martin del Potro in 2009.

The 25-year-old Kuznetsov had earlier downed No. 4 seed Stan Wawrinka in the second round and as a result of his fourth-round showing, will break into the Top 50 of the Emirates ATP Rankings on Monday. Raonic will carry a 2-1 FedEx Head2Head lead into his clash with Kyrgios.

Tomas Berdych is through to the Miami Open quarter-finals after edging Richard Gasquet 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 in two hours and 28 minutes on a humid Tuesday at Crandon Park.

The seventh-seeded Czech will face either World No. 1 Novak Djokovic or 14th seed Dominic Thiem for a place in the semi-finals at the second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament of the year.

The 30-year-old Berdych claimed his 30th win in Miami as he advanced to the quarter-finals for the seventh time in 12 appearances. He went on to reach the final in 2010, finishing runner-up to Andy Roddick.

Berdych levelled his FedEx ATP Head2Head with Gasquet at 7-7 after edging the Frenchman in trying conditions. The right-hander rallied from a breakdown in the first set, reeling off four straight games from 2-4 down to clinch the opener.

Gasquet was able to hold on to his early break lead in the second set as he levelled the match, but it was Berdych who came good at the crunch stage, breaking Gasquet in the 11th game of the decider before serving out to love.

World No. 15 David Goffin is through to his second straight ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final after beating Horacio Zeballos 7-5, 6-3. The Belgian lost just eight points on serve and converted three of his nine break point opportunities as he defeated the lucky loser in 86 minutes.

Goffin is coming off his first Masters 1000 semi-final showing in Indian Wells, where he defeated Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic before falling to Milos Raonic. The 25 year old is the first Belgian man in tournament history to reach the quarter-finals in Miami.

Next up for Goffin will be Gilles Simon, who swept aside fellow Frenchman Lucas Pouille 6-0, 6-1 in just 58 minutes, relinquishing only 11 points on serve.