On a Friday filled with upsets at the Miami Open presented by Itau, Guido Pella provided another stunning second-round casualty by defeating ninth seed Grigor Dimitrov under the lights 6-3, 7-6(4). The Bulgarian struggled to find his timing on Stadium Court, hitting 38 unforced errors to 18 winners. Meanwhile, the World No. 158 in the Emirates ATP Rankings appeared inspired by the occasion and rose to the challenge with several flashy winners from the baseline. He also remained calm in saving a set point on his serve down 4-5 in the second set and again at 5-6. Nerves got the better of Pella with a double fault on his first match point up 6/3 in the second-set tie-break, but a...
Fifth seed Rafael Nadal received a rousing welcome on Friday at the Miami Open presented by Itau and lived up to his seeding on Stadium Court, moving past Dudi Sela 6-3, 6-4 to reach the third round. The Spaniard saved both break points he faced and required just a single break of serve in each set to advance in one hour and 21 minutes. Nadal continues his dominance against Sela, boosting his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against the Israeli player to 2-0 and dropping just 13 games in the five sets they’ve played. “It was difficult to find the right feelings this afternoon, but it’s these kind of days where you have to just try to win. That's what I...
Kei Nishikori got his Miami Open presented by Itau campaign off to a flying start on Friday, advancing through his opening match 6-4 6-3 over a tricky opponent in Kevin Anderson. The second seed didn’t face a break point in the contest and won 88 per cent of his first-serve points. Nishikori broke Anderson three times, including in the final game of the match, to secure victory in one hour and 28 minutes. He improves his FedEx ATP Head2Head against Anderson to 3-1, gaining revenge from losing their most recent match at the Shanghai Rolex Masters in 2015. “I thought it was a great match to start the tournament. Played really solid. Everything was almost perfect. I’m very happy with...
Philipp Petzschner gave himself the perfect 33rd birthday present at the Miami Open presented by Itau, teaming up with Alexander Peya to oust BNP Paribas Open champions Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram 6-3, 7-5 on Friday. As a reward for defeating the fifth seeds, Petzschner/Peya advance to the second round to face the winners of Dominic Thiem/Nenad Zimonjic and brothers Alexander Zverev/Mischa Zverev. Watch Full Match Replays Daniel Nestor and Brian Baker edged past Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 11-9. They will take on second seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut or the pairing of Dominic Inglot and Florin Mergea in the second round. Marin Cilic overcame disappointment in the singles to partner his countryman Nikola Mektic to...
Milos Raonic is the first player to move into the Miami Open presented by Itau third round courtesy of a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Viktor Troicki on Friday. ”I have to be very happy with just the outcome, that I was able to get the win today, that I have another chance to play in two days,” said Raonic. “Hopefully I can continue to progress throughout this tournament.” The third seed has returned to the ATP World Tour having been sidelined by a right leg injury, which forced him to concede a walkover in the Delray Beach Open final (vs. Sock) last month, before withdrawing from Abierto Mexicano Telcel and the BNP Paribas Open. ”I've always been the kind of...
