Djokovic Stays Hot, Fish Upsets Delpo, Ivanovic Chokes, Late Night With Federer in Miami
- 227 Comments
The hottest player in tennis, Novak Djokovic, gets a rematch today with the man who beat him in 2008, Kevin Anderson, tonight in the quarterfinals at the Miami Sony Ericsson Open.
Anderson, who beat John Isner yesterday, upset Djokovic in the second round in three sets in 2008, a fact not forgotten by the World No. 2.
“It’s not a nice memory, definitely,” Djokovic said reflecting back three years. “I will have an opportunity to get my revenge in the same court where I lost in 2008. But, you know, he keeps on playing really well on these courts, and you’ve got to give him credit for that. He beat some very good players. Big serve, very aggressive. So, you know, tomorrow night we are going to play where conditions are going to be a little bit slower, which I guess is a little bit better for me.”
On Tuesday, Djokovic easily beat friend and countryman Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-2 to up his current win streak to 23 (21-0 in 2011).
In the early quarterfinal, Mardy Fish battles David Ferrer. Neither player has dropped a set and Fish just upset Juan Martin del Potro yesterday. A win today by Fish will move him past Andy Roddick as the No. 1 ranked American player.
“With Andy and the career he’s put together, it would be pretty tough to feel I was the No. 1 American,” Fish said. “He’s won so many more matches, so many more tournaments, so many more Davis Cup matches. So I don’t think I would ever feel like the No. 1.”
Fish and Ferrer have split their six meetings but they haven’t played since 2007.
Because of rain interruptions and long matches, former champion Roger Federer didn’t take the Stadium Court until 12:37am local time in Miami for his match against qualifier Olivier Rochus. Federer didn’t waste much time dispatching the Belgian 6-3, 6-1 in 52 minutes.
“I was home at the hotel till 7:00, so I had all day to do something else than to wait around,” Federer said. ‘I first thought or heard it was going to be canceled maybe because of rain, or my session anyway. They would move the day session back and the night session. So that was a bit just a waiting game to find out if I was going to play at all or not. You want to keep the mind focused. Supposed to play tonight. That’s what happened, so I’m happy I played a good match.”
Federer will play Gilles Simon on Thursday in one quarterfinal while Rafael Nadal meets Tomas Berdych in the other.
In the women’s draw, the semifinals are set on the top half with Andrea Petkovic vs. Maria Sharapova. The German Petkovic who upset No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round, outlasted No. 6 seed Jelena Jankovic 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Former No. 1 Sharapova overcame 17 double faults and a minor ankle injury to turn away Alexandra Dulgheru 3-6, 7-(6), 7-6(5).
“It was long. It was tough,” Sharapova said after the 3-hour, 28-minute win. “It was not my best performance, but I gutted it out till the end. I didn’t feel great throughout the match. I was making too many errors. My opponent was playing really well and consistent, and even though I had the lead, I just never took care of it. But at the end of the day I won, so I’m really happy.”
Today in the quarterfinals, Kim Clijsters meets Victoria Azarenka while Agnieska Radwasnka plays Vera Zvonareva.
Clijsters saved 5 match points and a 5-1, love-40 third set deficit to beat Ana Ivanovic 7-6(4), 3-6, 7-6(5) yesterday on a non-televised match on Court 2.
“It’s very hard, yeah – you should see my racquet,” Ivanovic said. “But I felt like I did nothing wrong. I had my opportunities and she played some really good tennis. I fought hard and stayed with her the whole match. I’m of course disappointed but there are positives.
“I kind of broke my racquet, then kind of cried a little bit. And then I was okay.”
ESPN2 will have live coverage today starting at 1pm.
MIAMI ORDER OF PLAY – WEDNESDAY, 30 MARCH, 2011
STADIUM start 11:00 am
J Erlich (ISR) / A Ram (ISR) vs [4] J Melzer (AUT) / P Petzschner (GER) – ATP
Not Before 1:00 PM
[9] A Radwanska (POL) vs [3] V Zvonareva (RUS) – WTA
Not Before 3:00 PM
[6] D Ferrer (ESP) vs [14] M Fish (USA) – ATP
Not Before 7:00 PM
[8] V Azarenka (BLR) vs [2] K Clijsters (BEL) – WTA
Not Before 9:00 PM
K Anderson (RSA) vs [2] N Djokovic (SRB) – ATP
You Might Like:
Djokovic Unbeatable; Federer, Nadal Today in Miami; Clijsters v. Ivanovic
Nadal, Djokovic, Federer in Action at Miami; Wozniacki Upset, Sharapova Sharp
Fish Floats in Hot Tub Time Machine to Win Over Murray in Miami
Andy Murray Hopes Lebron James Stays In Miami!
Mardy Fish On His Heart Condition: “I Was Panicking, I Thought I Was Going To Die”