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Rojer Begins With A Bang In Miami

  • Posted: Mar 24, 2018

Rojer Begins With A Bang In Miami

Dutchman reaches milestone with opening-round win

Jean-Julien Rojer collected the 350th doubles win of his career Friday when he teamed with Horia Tecau at the Miami Open to defeat recent Indian Wells champion Jack Sock and Nicholas Monroe 6-1, 7-6(2).

Rojer, 36, claimed the first of his 26 titles in 2010 in Tokyo.

In another result of significance, American duo Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey upset top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo 6-4, 7-6(0). Since beginning the year 7-1, including a title in Sydney, last year’s No. 1 team has gone 2-4 in its past four outings, including back-to-back first-round losses in Indian Wells and Miami.

Eighth seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah defeated Aussie duo Nick Kyrgios and Matt Reid 7-5, 7-5.

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Delpo: I Need To Get Better For Kei

  • Posted: Mar 24, 2018

Delpo: I Need To Get Better For Kei

Argentine seeks third straight title

Juan Martin del Potro extended his winning streak to 12 matches with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 win over Robin Haase to kick off his quest to complete the ‘Sunshine Double’ at the Miami Open on Friday night.

But things won’t get any easier for the the World No. 6 Argentine, who last week won his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title in Indian Wells. Del Potro will face former US Open finalist Kei Nishikori in the third round after the Japanese beat Australian John Millman 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3.

Del Potro said that he would need a much better effort to beat Nishikori. “It was a terrible match for me even though Robin played well,” he said. “It was a very difficult first match of the tournament for me. I’m still alive and that’s important. But I need to improve my tennis, my physicality and my mind if I want to go further. My body started to feel tired but I will have some time now to recover.”

Playing his first match in almost a month since his first-round loss in Acapulco to Denis Shapovalov, Nishikori said that the difficult nature of today’s win was a boost. “I’m happy to win; it wasn’t an easy match,” he said. “I didn’t play the past two weeks, so I had to get used to playing points again, but in the third set I thought I played well. I am feeling very good and playing with intensity for three hours today is good for my confidence.”

Did You Know?
Del Potro improved to 5-0 lifetime against Haase with Friday night’s win in Miami.

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Miami Open: Novak Djokovic, David Goffin & Liam Broady fall in second round

  • Posted: Mar 23, 2018

Former world number one Novak Djokovic suffered a surprise defeat by Benoit Paire in the Miami Open second round.

The Serb, now ranked 12th as he continues his return from an elbow injury, lost 6-3 6-4 to the French world number 47 in just 69 minutes.

It is Djokovic’s third consecutive defeat since he reached the Australian Open fourth round in January.

Paire will next play Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic, who ended British number five Liam Broady’s run on Friday.

Krajinovic, seeded 22nd, beat world number 169 Broady 6-3 6-2 in 71 minutes.

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Elsewhere in Miami, seventh seed David Goffin was beaten in straight sets by Portugal’s Joao Sousa.

The Belgian, who was making his return after injuring his eye at the Rotterdam Open in January, lost 6-0 6-1.

Sousa hit 18 winners to Goffin’s nine, with the Belgian making 26 unforced errors in the 62 minute match.

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Miami Open: Johanna Konta beats Kirsten Flipkens in second round

  • Posted: Mar 23, 2018

Britain’s Johanna Konta began her Miami Open title defence with a second-round win over Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens.

Konta, ranked 14th in the world, registered a 6-4 6-3 victory over the world number 71 in 84 minutes.

The 11th seed, who had a bye in the first round, looked composed as she hit eight aces and 27 winners on her way to victory.

She will face either Germany’s 22nd seed Elise Mertens or American Bernarda Pera in the third round.

Elsewhere, Czech Petra Kvitova beat Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka 7-5 3-6 6-3, and Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina knocked out Indian Wells champion Naomi Osaka.

Japan’s Osaka, who had won eight consecutive matches and beaten Serena Williams in the opening round, lost 6-4 6-2 to the world number four.

  • Live scores, schedule and results
  • Liam Broady beaten in Miami Open second round

Konta has won six and lost six of her 12 matches this season and, since her run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July, has won just nine of her 20 matches.

She was knocked out in the second round at Indian Wells a fortnight ago and has to defend 1,000 ranking points in Miami to remain within the world’s top 25.

The 26-year-old had five opportunities to break Flipkens in the fifth game of the first set, but the Belgian managed to hold in a game that lasted 10 minutes.

Konta broke to love in Flipkens’ next service game to take a 4-3 lead, and she served strongly en route to wrapping up the first set.

She broke quickly in the second set but was forced to stave off a break point in the next game to consolidate her break, before wrapping up victory shortly afterwards.

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Sousa Beats Returning Goffin In Miami

  • Posted: Mar 23, 2018

Sousa Beats Returning Goffin In Miami

Cilic and Dimitrov feature later on day three

Portugal’s Joao Sousa recorded the fourth Top 10 victory of his career (4-26 lifetime) on Friday for a place in the Miami Open presented by Itau third round. The 29-year-old required 61 minutes to beat Belgium’s David Goffin, currently No. 9 in the ATP Rankings, 6-0, 6-1.

“I think I played a great match today,” said Sousa. “I was able to play my best tennis from the beginning. For sure, David was not able to play his best tennis today. I know how tough it is coming from an injury that he had a few weeks ago. I’m really happy that I was able to play great tennis. It’s not easy to play against these kinds of players. They are very good. So yeah I’m very happy I can enjoy this victory a lot today.”

Sousa won the last 15 points of the first set against Goffin, who is returning from an eye injury sustained during the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in February and had won all four of their previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings. Sousa, now one away from 150 victories, will next challenge American Jared Donaldson or No. 25 seed Feliciano Lopez of Spain. Two weeks ago, Sousa beat No. 5-ranked Alexander Zverev en route to the BNP Paribas Open third round.

“It’s great. I’ve been playing very good tennis for the past two weeks. As I say, I played one of my best matches of my career today. Even if David was not very well… I’m enjoying playing tennis a lot. It is great to play against these kinds of guys and try to win, and I was able to do it for the past two weeks. Hopefully, I can keep playing good tennis and keep providing some surprises.”

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But Sousa was not the only one to earn a big win Friday. #NextGenATP American Michael Mmoh, a qualifier, had never won a main-draw ATP World Tour Masters 1000-level before arriving in Miami. Yet, despite dropping eight consecutive games after he was up a set and 2-0, Mmoh defeated No. 12 seed Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-4 in two hours, 45 minutes. 

It was Mmoh’s first match against a Top 20 player, and for a moment, it appeared he had lost his opportunity. Bautista Agut ran down two overheads while serving at 4-5 15/30 in the deciding set, and Mmoh missed the third smash long. Instead of holding two match points, it was 30/30. But the 20-year-old, like he did after losing eight games in a row, maintained his focus to earn the best victory of his career. 

Prior to the season, Mmoh had never won an ATP World Tour match. But the American qualified and then triumphed twice at the Brisbane International presented by Suncorp, including his first Top 50 victory against Mischa Zverev, to advance to the quarter-finals. Mmoh will look to continue his dream run in Miami against reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion Hyeon Chung or Australian Matthew Ebden. 

Did You Know?
Mmoh had not won an ATP World Tour match prior to the 2018 season. He now has four triumphs, including his first two ATP World Tour Masters 1000-level victories.

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