OK now here's the 2nd part of my updates on the Sony Ericsson Open from Miami, which saw some terrific tennis from both then mens and ladies. So far the tournament has had some great stuff and the Miami crowds have been terrific, far more lively and animated than the sleepy buggers at Indian Wells. Now we are will into the tournament and yesterday we had the ladies 4th round and men's 3rd round matches, so here's more on that....
OK starting with the men, the upset of the day came from a much anticipated match up between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick. Roddick has been on the losing side of the net in their past 20 odd meetings and has only beaten Federer twice in his career up until then. However in this match Roddick played some of his very best tennis, clinching the 1st set in a tiebreak, losing the 2nd, but getting a key break in the 3rd round, and Andy never looked back, closing out the match in 7-6, 1-6, 6-4. This was a great effort from Roddick and it was the second time he beat Federer in Miami, where Andy has since been the champion there twice in the past. Roddick also snapped Roger's 16 match winning streak on the ATP tour, and if you think about it, this is the first match he has lost at the ATP tour level since the US Open last year (if you discount his Aussie open and Davis cup losses this year).
Other men's matches saw Djokovic make safe passage through to the 4th round as he played against his fellow Serb, Viktor Troicki, and Novak had no trouble dispatching him, winning in 6-3, 6-4. Djokovic is looking pretty good here I have to say and with Federer out the picture, it could definitely increase his chances of getting to the final. David Ferrer also made it past the Frenchman Julien Benneteau in a tight match winning in 7-6, 6-4, and Juan Martin Del Potro also got past the similarly tall 6' 6" Croatian, Marin Cilic in straight sets 6-3, 7-6. And out today in the men's matches will be Andy Murray who plays the Frenchman Gilles Simon, which promises to be a good match, and Andy has a comfortable head to head advantage against him. Rafa will play against the talented Japanese player Kei Nishikori, who has been fast rising up the ranks, and Djokovic will play another Frenchman, Richard Gasquet, which should be interesting.
Now onto the ladies which saw some really great stuff on display. Starting with Serena Williams and Sam Stosur who had a US Open re-match, and it has to be said this one was a different, much tighter affair altogether. In the first despite being a break down against Stosur, Serena then went on to break back, and got a crucial break herself at 5-5 to win out the first set. In the second Stosur gotten broken again but held in there and continued to fight, but ultimately it was Serena, who fired up a record 20 aces in the match, that came through in 7-5, 6-3. Despite not being a fan of Serena, I was hoping she would get through as I really would like to see her get to the final, just in case we get an Azarenka showdown, which just might be on the cards, but we'll see.
Maria Sharapova also made it past Ekerena Makarova, her Russian compatriot (although to hear Maria you would never have guessed it, since she sounds so American!) in a mixed quality match in 6-4, 7-6, with Sharapova, probably giving one of the worst performances of her career, with a ridiculous 11 double faults and 53 unforced errors. But she still got the win, and a win is a win, no matter how ugly it maybe. Caroline Wozniacki also made it through against Yanina Wickmayer in straight sets, despite the first being a very tight contest, the second was a pushover for Caroline, and won the match 7-6, 6-0. Caroline will go on to face Serena Williams in the quarter finals, but to be honest I don't rate her chances of winning, as she has never beaten Serena and for me she doesn't have the power or aggressive game to hit through her, so I think it will be a straight set win for Serena. Marion Bartoli had the easiest match of all as she breezed past Maria Kirilenko in 6-2, 6-1. And finally Li Na advanced into the quarter finals as well, and defeated Sabine Lisicki for the first time in their three meetings, winning in 3 sets.
But the match of the day, and most likely the tournament was the world No.1 Victoria Azarenka,who came up against an inspired Dominika Cibulkova, who very nearly came close to ending Vika's unbeaten start to 2012. The pint sized Slovakian player Cibulkova, came out firing on all cylinders in the first set and made Vika look like the World No.100 player instead of the No.1, as Cibulkova hit winners for fun against Victoria, left, right and centre (literally!). And in the second set it was the same as Dominika kept up her blistering form, however at 5-2, with a chance to serve out for the biggest win of her career, the Slovak started to show signs of crumbling and double faulted to let Azarenka break back, and from there before we knew it, Azarenka finally found her form and levelled the match to 5-5 all, and took the 2nd set in a tense tiebreak. In the third it looked like Azarenka was the firm favourite and broke Cibulkova early on, but Dominika refused to go away and continued to break back until it was 5-5 all again, but this time, Victoria got the final crucial break, and after a tight final game at 6-5, Cibulkova sailed a forehand just long, which saw Victoria's unbeaten winning streak carry on to 26 matches and counting, winning after an exhaustive 1-6, 7-6(7), 7-5.
This was a terrific match with some high quality play, particularly from Cibulkova, who came out so strong and pretty much played brilliantly throughout, but ultimately I think Dominika was hurt by too many double faults, 10 to be precise. But for the first set and a half the crowd cheered on Cibulkova, as she fired winner after winner, and with every shot she made Azarenka look so ordinary. And Victoria herself, didn't play a particularly good match herself, her level improved in the 2nd and 3rd, but she really survived match more than won it. As for Cibulkova she was off the court like a bullet once she lost, clearly very disappointed that she had lost, which was a great shame, as she came so close. But it does show that Azarenka truly is a worthy No.1 and she very much like Djokovic last year, so far has proved to have an indomitable spirit. Next up for Victoria is one of my favourite players on the WTA tour, Marion Bartoli, which should prove again to be another very tough match, but I'm sure she will come through it. And after that its getting down to business as Victoria could very well face Venus Williams in the semis, which could make for a very exciting match, and just maybe we could get Serena in the finals, which could be a great match. But in the meantime its all ahead of us.
But it has to be asked, can Azarenka beat either of the Williams sisters???? Well I've just looked at her win loss record, and regards to Venus, she has never beaten her in their two meetings, and she has only beaten Serena once, which was funnily enough at this event. But in her current form I still think Azarenka has a strong chance of beating either of the sisters, but it will make for a very exciting match up if she should meet both or either of them. I just hope Sharapova isn't in the final because it will be yet another cakewalk for Azarenka, and I think we shouldn't be robbed of very exciting potential match up of the Williams's versus the world's current best player.
So on that note I'll leave it there.
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