Serena and Sharapova Into Sony Miami Final; Friday Preview

No. 3-ranked Andy Murray advanced to the Sony Open Tennis semis on Thursday after beating No. 9 seed Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-3.
ADHEREL
“I think today was probably the best match for me,” said Murray, who came back from a break twice in the first set. “It was a tough, tough match. The second set especially was a lot of long, long games and tough points. I just managed to come through that. Obviously, it took a while to get to the finish line, but I thought I played a solid match, not too many errors and was tough in the important moments.”

In the semis the Brit will face No. 8 seed Richard Gasquet, who topped No. 4 seed Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-3 in an almost errorless performance.

In women’s play world No. 1 Serena Williams and former No. 1 Maria Sharapova each blew into the final, setting a blockbuster match-up.

Williams rolled over Agnieszka Radwanska 6-0, 6-3 in another display of power tennis against the Polish backboard.

“It definitely felt really good today,” Williams said. “I kept my unforced errors rather low. On a couple shots out there I think I got pretty lucky, but I’ve been practicing really hard and it’s all just paying off, so I don’t know if it’s luck. I don’t believe in luck — I believe in hard work.”

Williams now has 60 career match wins at the Sony Open, passing Steffi Graf’s previous record of 59.

Sharapova likewise rolled past tired fellow former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic 6-2, 6-1.

“It was important for me to be there physically and mentally because I didn’t feel I played my best tennis yesterday,” said Sharapova, who enters the final against an opponent she has lost 10 straight matches to. “It was really important to go out, change a few things and just have a better mentality, be a bit more positive, and I felt like I did a few things better today.”

Friday play in Miami will see (15) Tommy Haas vs. (3) David Ferrer, and at 7 p.m. (8) Richard Gasquet vs. (2) Andy Murray.