Federer, Djokovic Ease Into Miami Third Round; Murray v Raonic (Hopefully) On Tap For Sunday
- 61 Comments
Top seeds and tournament favorites Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer had little trouble getting into the third round in Miami. Djokovic, the tournament defending champion, pounced on Marcos Baghdatis eliminating the Cypriot 6-4, 6-4.
“He definitely deserves to be one of the seeded players,” said Djokovic of Baghdatis. “Obviously he struggled a little bit with injuries that took him away from the tour. But he’s a quality player, there is no doubt. He’s very solid from both sides. He has a really good first serve; he’s an aggressive player; [and] he has a very flat shot.
“I thought I played really well. Towards the end I made a little more unforced errors, but generally it was a good performance for my first match.”
Djokovic has now won all seven career meeting with Marcos.
Earlier in the day Federer gave another lesson to rising American star Ryan Harrison, though it did get dicey at the end. Federer was in complete control cruising 6-2, 5-3 serving for the match when he got broken on a point during which he stopped playing because he heard a fan yell “out”. Harrison returned Federer’s in ball, but the Roger had stopped. The break went to Harrison who held and ultimately forced a tiebreak, won by the Swiss.
“I didn’t play the shot, so it completely threw me off,” Federer said of the 15-40 point. “I mean, it’s the first time it’s ever happened in my career. I don’t even know what to think about it, because I was like, That’s it? That’s a break point? This is how this is gonna happen? Okay.
“I don’t know what the rules are, how loud maybe an out call has to be for it be maybe potentially replayed,” he went on. “I mean, it was just messed up. I should play the shot. It’s my mistake at the end of the day. But it came from the direction of the linesman and it was loud enough for me to hear it clearly.
“I was looking for the linesman while the ball was coming over, and just at the very end I did see that she held both hands down saying that the ball was in. I was just completely confused about the whole situation.”
Federer advances to meet his third straight American foe (Isner, Harrison) in longtime rival Andy Roddick on Monday. Roger’s won 21 of 23 meetings with Roddick, though Andy beat him at the 2008 Miami tournament.
“The head to head doesn’t play a massive factor for me in every match I go in against Andy, because I know there’s always a lot in Andy’s racquet depending on how he serves,” Federer said. “And, you know, if I don’t play well, I know I won’t win.
So the pressure is there. That’s what he can create with his game. This is why I never take a match lightly against him.”
David Ferrer, Mardy Fish, Juan Martin Del Potro and Gael Monfils were also seeded winners on Saturday.
In the women’s field, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki all registered straight set wins. Serena now meets Sam Stosur Monday in a rematch of their US Open final.
Former No.1 Kim Clijsters, however, fell to countrywoman Yanina Wickmayer 6-4, 7-6. Clijsters, who was playing her first tournament since the Australian Open and likely her last Miami event, was still hobbled by the ankle injury she suffered in Melbourne and overall lack of match play.
“It’s in a way a little bit frustrating knowing that, you know, playing maybe not even 50% but still being that close is you know, on one hand, you’re like, Ah, I could have beaten her, you know, with the way that I was playing and feeling, but she played good,” Clijsters said. “I mean, she served well, you know. But I did feel she was getting nervous to finish off the match as well, so I had a few opportunities there to get back into it and maybe win that second set.”
On a massive third round Sunday menu, Rafael Nadal returns along with Tomas Berdych, Venus Wiliams, Ana Ivanovic, Victoria Azarenka and Andy Murray who meets the big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic. Roanic, however, did suffer an ankle injury Saturday that forced him to retire from his doubles match.
ORDER OF PLAY – SUNDAY, 25 MARCH, 2012
STADIUM start 11:00 am
[7] T Berdych (CZE) vs G Dimitrov (BUL) – ATP
Not Before 1:00 PM
[WC] V Williams (USA) vs [WC] A Wozniak (CAN) – WTA
Not Before 3:00 PM
[20] D Hantuchova (SVK) vs [15] A Ivanovic (SRB) – WTA
[25] R Stepanek (CZE) vs [2] R Nadal (ESP) – ATP
Starting at 7:30 PM
[1] V Azarenka (BLR) vs [WC] H Watson (GBR) – WTA
Not Before 9:30 PM
[19] F Mayer (GER) vs [10] J Isner (USA) – ATP
GRANDSTAND start 11:00 am
[18] A Dolgopolov (UKR) vs [9] J Tipsarevic (SRB) – ATP
[13] G Simon (FRA) vs [22] J Melzer (AUT) – ATP
[26] M Raonic (CAN) vs [4] A Murray (GBR) – ATP
S Soler-Espinosa (ESP) vs [5] A Radwanska (POL) – WTA
Not Before 5:00 PM
[1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) vs M Melo (BRA) / J Monaco (ARG) – ATP
You Might Like:
Milos Raonic May Have Re-Injured His Adductor In Loss To Novak Djokovic Sunday
Murray Trips Over Finish Line as Djokovic Captures Sony Ericsson Miami
Jamie Murray To Become First Briton To Rank No. 1 Next Monday
Federer, Del Potro Advanced To Miami 3R Showdown; Nadal, Nishikori Return Sunday
Murray, Azarenka Collect Sony Ericsson Miami Titles