Right so let's get onto the second part of my posts on the Sony Open tennis tournament from Miami and things are getting interesting as we approach just over the mid-way mark in the event as this entry will cover the 4th round matches on the men's and ladies. So let's crack on....
So starting with the ladies Serena Williams after two tough matches finally settled into her rythym as she took on the American Coco Vandeweghe and dismissed her in just 6-3, 6-1 to reach the quarter finals. Li Na also showed her impressive for as she dispatch the Spaniard, Carla Suarez-Navarro and conceding just two games on the way with a crushing 6-0, 6-2 win. Caroline Wozniacki continued the pattern of straight set routs as she destroyed Varvara Lepchenko with an emphatic 6-0, 6-1, which shows her maintain her impressive and aggressive form in Miami. Agnieszka Radwanska had it much tougher against a qualifier, Elina Svitolina, as she was forced to go the distance against the plucky Ukrainian player, who she overcame in 7-6, 5-7, 6-2. Maria Sharapova was also under the cosh as she fought against Kirsten Flipkens, and she rallied from a set down to beat the Belgian player in 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. Angelique Kerber also had a fight on her hands too as she had a tough three set scrap against the Russian player, Ekaterina Makarova and she survived to reach the quarter finals with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. And lastly Petra Kvitova made it past Ana Ivanovic as after dropping the first set, she never looked back with a double bagel dished out to the Serb in sets 2 and 3 to win in 3-6, 6-0, 6-0.
So moving onto the men's matches starting off with Novak Djokovic, who was up against Tommy Robredo for a place in the quarter finals. Nole having never lost to Robredo in their last five meetings was in no mood to change the result as he took the first set with a break, and despite a tighter second set, Nole managed to seal the break at 5-5 to go on and clinch his place in the last eight with a 6-3, 7-5 win. Roger Federer also continued his dominating form as he trounced Richard Gasquet with an incredible performance as he dismissed the Frenchman dropping just three games, with a 6-1, 6-2 win. David Ferrer on the other hand a real battle on his hands as he took on the Japenese player, Kei Nishikori in a scrap that lasted three hours, but it was Nishikori that upset the odds and put out the Spaniard after a mighty tough 7-6, 2-6, 7-6 battle.
And the biggest upset so far came from Stan Wawrinka, the current Australian open champion, was also not so lucky as he faced an in form Alexandr Dogopolov, who put in another fine performance to dispatch the first time major champion in 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. This sees Stan's puzzling poor form continue after his incredible run in Australia, he seems to have been struggling with his confidence after pulling off such a great achievement in Melbourne, perhaps it is first time champion nerves, but hopefully Stan's game will improve as the season progresses. And lastly Milos Raonic continued his solid progress as he powered his way to victory over the German player, Benjamin Becker in 6-3, 6-4.
And last but not least we have Andy Murray who had an intruiging clash with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, which promised to be quite a tight match. However, it was Andy that made the better start and came out firing on all cylinders, serving superbly, moving and returning well as he moved ahead in the first set and took it with a single break. Althought there was some cause for concern as Andy appeared to be feeling pain from his back again during the first set, for which he requested for the doctor to come on court and he received some painkillers. However in the 2nd set, Andy looked unfazed by his back and went on to dominate Tsonga, who had no answer for his superb net play and his (for once) sharp serving, which saw Andy reach the last eight with a convincing 6-4, 6-1 victory.
This was Andy's first win over a player ranked inside top 20 this year and with Tsonga ranked 11, its certainly the most impressive win so far this year, and it sees him starting to get back to his best form. Andy's back pain however he seemed to rear its ugly head in the match however, which threatened to overshadow his win, although hopefully it won't be anything too serious and he will be fit and ready for his next match. And this match will be with Novak Djokovic, which promises, fitness permitting for Andy, a real belter and it will also be the first time they will have played each other since the Wimbledon final last year. So there is alot on the line here for Andy as he will have to play a great match in order for him to get past Nole and he can do it, but it will be very tough, and let's hope his back is not issue tomorrow as he sure will need his movement if he is to beat Nole. However I would have to say while Andy has a decent chance of winning, I think Novak will win it in three sets, but it should be hopefully a real tight match, but we will soon find out.
So that's it for now, more to follow soon.
Bye for now!
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