ATP Miami Begins Wednesday with Murray, Moya on CourtPosted on March 22, 2006 Play kicks off Wednesday at the Masters Series-Miami, the NASDAQ-100 Open, but trumping the all-unseeded line-up will be the debut of the Hawk-Eye video replay challenge.
"We're the guinea pig, which we're happy to do," tournament chairman Butch Buchholz told the AP. "I've got to believe the players are going to love this. You'd like to have a situation where you're not going to lose a tennis match because of a bad call." One player not an advocate of the technology is world No. 1 Roger Federer. "I hope I play on the outside courts so I don't have to face it," joked the Swiss, talking to reporters in Miami. "I guess it's going to affect me the most, because I'll probably play many matches in the next few months on center courts." While the men's field in Miami is the best of the year thus far, don't be surprised to see a rematch of last year's final with Federer facing Rafael Nadal, as the two have put themselves on a different level removed from other players on the ATP in 2005-06. "I enjoy the challenge with him," Federer said of the muscle-bound Spaniard who has beaten him in three of their four career encounters. "He's a terrific scrambler and he brings something else to the game as a great left-hander, and we don't have many of those. I enjoy playing him." Highlights and curiosities Wednesday in all-unseeded play in Miami are former No. 1 Carlos Moya vs. Victor Hanescu (winner to face Nadal), Fabrice "The Magician" Santoro vs. "Dr." Ivo Karlovic, Mardy Fish vs. Jan Hernych in an all-qualifier match-up, and Brit-Scot sensation Andy Murray vs. Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka. |
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