Roger Federer kept his momentum rolling into the fourth round at Miami with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 victory over Juan Martin del Potro.
It was the first meeting between the two who share the same management agency since the ATP Finals in 2013 which went three sets. But Federer started out hot and once again was solid on serve and from the baseline. After breaking the Argentine to seize the lead. He then erased a 15-40 hole to secure the first set.
Federer, who never dropped serve, grabbed a second break at 3-2 in the second and that was enough for the Swiss to earn his 15th win in 16 matches this year.
“I was more the aggressor. It was more on my racquet, and I like it that way,” Federer said afterward. “But, again, if he would’ve broken back in the first and would he have broken back in the second, we might still be playing and things would be very, very different right now. I thought it was a good match.”
Up next for Federer tomorrow is Roberto Bautista Agut who ousted Sam Querrey in three sets.
Federer’s countryman and top seed Stan Wawrinka also had an easy day, cruising past Malek Jaziri by the same 6-3, 6-4 scoreline.
Wawrinka now faces a tough test against Alexander Zverev. The German phenom won an all-tiebreak match over John Isner saving three match points in the process with a 6-7(5), 7-6(6), 7-6(5) victory. Zverev was actually down a mini-break at 4-2 in the final set tiebreak before taking five of the last six points.
Isner wasn’t the only tall man to fall to a youngster in a final set breaker. Nick Kyrgios did it Ivo Karlovic knocking down the Croatian 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(2).
Kyrgios moves on to meet David Goffin who needed three sets to beat Diego Schwartzman. Kyrgios and Goffin both made the Miami semifinals a year ago.
Also today, Tomas Berdych advanced to the fourth round behind a strong 6-3, 6-4 win over Gilles Muller. The Czech battles Adrian Mannarino who also won a final set breaker, beating Borna Coric.
Tomorrow, all eight men’s fourth round matches are scheduled. Along with Federer-Bautista Agut and Wawrinka-Zverev, Rafael Nadal returns to face Nicolas Mahut and the last two American men collide as Jack Sock takes on Jared Donaldson.
MIAMI TUESDAY SCHEDULE
STADIUM start 11:00 am
ATP – F. Delbonis (ARG) vs [2] K. Nishikori (JPN)
Not Before 1:00 pm
WTA – [26] M. Lucic-Baroni (CRO) vs [2] Ka. Pliskova (CZE)
ATP – [5] R. Nadal (ESP) vs N. Mahut (FRA)
ATP – [4] R. Federer (SUI) vs [14] R. Bautista Agut (ESP)
Not Before 7:30 pm
WTA – [12] C. Wozniacki (DEN) vs L. Safarova (CZE)
Not Before 9:00 pm
ATP – [12] N. Kyrgios (AUS) vs [8] D. Goffin (BEL)
GRANDSTAND start 10:50 am
ATP – F. Fognini (ITA) vs D. Young (USA)
ATP – [13] J. Sock (USA) vs [Q] J. Donaldson (USA)
ATP – [10] T. Berdych (CZE) vs A. Mannarino (FRA)
Not Before 5:00 pm
ATP – [1] S. Wawrinka (SUI) vs [16] A. Zverev (GER)
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