Djokovic Slays Nadal; Roddick Retires to Murray

Fellow 19-year-olds Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic will meet again in a Masters Series semifinals for the second consecutive event. Djokovic, who beat Murray two weeks ago in the semifinals at Indian Wells, continued his hot form Wednesday night with a 6-3, 6-4 win iover the surging Rafael Nadal in quarterfinals at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

Murray had an easier time of it when his opponent, Andy Roddick, withdrew from their match with a left hamstring injury with the Scot up 5-3 in the first set.

"I guess anybody would rather get off the court quicker than longer," said Murray, who's one win away from the Top 10. "But I'd rather it was in normal circumstances, if I won a match fast instead of your opponent pulling out. You know, obviously I think I've got the next match Friday night, so I'll get a bit of time to recover."

With Davis Cup just ten days away, attention quickly shifted on Roddick's availability for the U.S. Davis Cup tie against Span.

"It's disappointing, but right now I just want to focus on getting better," Roddick said. "Obviously we have a pretty big weekend next weekend. And that's obviously playing a part in this process. I'm sorry, I'm just kind of concerned about that."

Djokovic who avenged a loss to Nadal Nadal in the Indian Wells final, called his win the most important of his young career.

"Certainly I have to say that this is the biggest, and probably the most important victory in my career, and he's the best player I ever won against," Djokovic said. "Coming from Indian Wells finals, I learned a lot of things... Today I was really motivated. I didn't have anything to lose. I'm making some unbelievable results in the last couple of months. I'm in great shape, feeling really confident on the court."

Nadal, meanwhile, is already looking ahead to the clay season.

"It's going to be very, very hard for me [to achieve similar results as the past two years]," Rafa said. "So just try to arrive in Monte Carlo, the same like every year. Try to have a good result and to play my best tennis and that's it. If I find my best tennis, I'm going to have a chance to have a good clay season; if not, I don't have a good clay season."

Murray and Djokovic have met twice before, with Djokovic winning both meetings.