Miami Open: Murray wins, Nadal exits after health scare

Serena ousts Kazak Zarina Diyas in women’s event, inches closer to ninth Miami title.

MIAMI: Britain’s Andy Murray moved into the third round of the ATP and WTA Miami Open but Rafael Nadal, dizzy as he struggled to cope with heat and humidity, retired from his match.

World number two Murray, twice a Grand Slam champion, downed Uzbekistan’s 76th-ranked Denis Istomin 6-3, 7-5 to reach the third round in a night match.

“That second set was tight but I managed to get through,” said Murray, who next faces Bulgarian 26th seed Grigor Dimitrov in his quest for a third Miami crown.



Spanish fifth seed Nadal, a 14-time Grand Slam champion playing in the heat of the afternoon, feared for his safety and handed 94th-ranked Bosnian Damir Dzumhur a 2-6, 6-4, 3-0 triumph, stopping during a match for the first time in six years.

“Everything was fine until the end of the first set and I started to feel not very good,” said Nadal. “It was getting worse. I decided I was not safe. I wanted to finish the match, but I decided I would not.”

Other results

Pakistan tennis ace Aisamul Haq Qureshi and Gilles Simon cruised into the second round as they defeated Daniel Nestor and Radek Stepanek 6-4, 7-5.



They will face French pair of Nicholas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert in their next match.  

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28^th,  2016.

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