Third round play at the Sony Ericsson Tennis Masters in Miami begins Sunday. After a second round rife with upsets, the top seeds return to play. World No. 2 Rafael Nadal, No. 9 James Blake, No. 10 Tomas Berdych, No. 15 Guillermo Canas and No. 16 Paul-Henri Mathieu are among the Top 16 seeds in third round action.
Seeds compiled a 7-9 record on Saturday with No. 5 David Ferrer the fourth player in the Top 8 to lose. Other seeds to fall included No. 13 Andy Murray, No. 14 Tommy Robredo, No. 19 Ivo Karlovic and No. 21 Lleyton Hewitt. On Friday, seeds in the bottom half of the draw compiled an 11-5 record in second round matches, and counted No. 3 and defending champion Novak Djokovic, No. 7 David Nalbandian and No. 8 Richard Gasquet among the eliminated.
Three former Miami finalists play their third round matches Sunday. Last year, Argentine Guillermo Canas became the first qualifier (ranked No. 55) to reach the Miami final (l. to Djokovic), defeating five consecutive Top 20 opponents, including three straight Top 10s – No. 1 Roger Federer in the 4th Rd., No. 6 Tommy Robredo in the quarterfinals and No. 7 Ivan Ljubicic in the semifinals. Rafael Nadal, a 2005 finalist, posted wins over Ljubicic, Thomas Johansson and David Ferrer before falling to No. 1 Federer in five sets in his first ATP Masters Series final. He held a two-set lead and came within two points of victory in the third set, only to lose 61 in the fifth set. Countryman Carlos Moya reached the final in 2003, losing to Andre Agassi 63 63.
Frenchman Fabrice Santoro is the oldest player remaining in the draw at 35 years, 3 months, after defeating 36-year-old Jonas Bjorkman in the 1st Rd. and No. 23 seed Ivan Ljubicic in the second round. Santoro is making his 13th appearance in Miami, and has a 14-12 career record at the event. He made his debut in 1990, defeating Marc Rosset in straight sets before losing to No. 2 Boris Becker in three. The Frenchman will attempt to match his best result, the 4th Rd. in 1998 (l. to Corretja) and 2001 (l. to Hewitt), when he faces American James Blake for the fifth time in their careers. Santoro trails the career series 1-3, but won their most recent meeting in January at Sydney. Last year, Blake notched his first career five-set victory in 10 matches as he defeated Santoro in the 2nd Rd. at the US Open. Blake said after the match: “He is a credit to the game. I'm in awe of someone that at 34 years old, as many Grand Slams as he's played, to go out there and battle for five sets, in singles and doubles, and probably in the mixed, too. To play that many matches, and the brand of tennis that he plays. He's not an Ivo Karlovic who goes out there and gets 50 free points on his serve; he's got to work for his points. It's incredible to be doing that still at this age. I hope my body can hold up the way his does."
Third seeds and Stanford ATP Doubles Race leaders Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram are in first round action Sunday against Brazilians Marcelo Melo and Andre Sa. The Israelis, who opened the year with the Australian Open title, won their team’s second ATP Masters Series title last Friday at the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wels. They have won 14 of the last 15 matches, and have a 17-3 season mark. (ATP Digital Services)
In the U.S., Fox Sports Net will air coverage this afternoon, check your local listings. Live streaming from Miami is available online by clicking the banner below:
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