Djokovic crashes out of Miami Masters
Haas stuns world number one; Murray, Serena advance after fourth-round wins.
Two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic failed to progress past the fourth round as German 15th-seed Tommy Haas stunned him in a straight sets’ defeat at the Miami Masters. PHOTO: AFP
MIAMI:
Two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic crashed out in the fourth round of the Miami Masters, while last year’s runner-up Andy Murray eased through to the quarter-finals in straight sets.
World number one Djokovic was stunned 6-2, 6-4 by German 15th-seed Tommy Haas but US Open winner Murray had no such difficulties, breezing past Italy’s Andreas Seppi by the same score in the $8.5 million ATP and WTA hardcourt event.
“There are days when you don’t feel good on the court and this is one of those days,” said Australian Open champion Djokovic. The Serb lost for just the second time this season, never getting to grips with Haas, who kept Djokovic off his game with a number of skillful shots.
“All credit goes to him. He was the better player. As far I am concerned it is the worst match I have played in a long time. I just didn’t feel good on the court. The conditions were different. The balls didn’t bounce at all and he used a variety of shots very well.
“I just didn’t find a solution to come back into the match.”
Haas, who turns 35 next week, advances to the last-eight where he will face Frenchman Gilles Simon who outlasted Djokovic’s countryman Janko Tipsarevic 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
“I had the mentality tonight going out there believing in it,” said Haas. “You’ve got to. I had a good game plan.”
Scotsman Murray, the 2009 Miami winner who lost to Djokovic in last year’s final, needed only 86 minutes to book a date in the last-eight with ninth-seed Croatian Marin Cilic.
“Today I served well,” said Murray. “When I was down in games I served pretty good, too.
“I just keep working on it each day. Focusing hard on each serve specifically.”
Cilic advanced with a 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) win over French sixth-seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Spanish third-seed David Ferrer advanced to the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Japan’s 13th-seeded Kei Nishikori.
He will play Austria’s Jurgen Melzer, who defeated Spain’s Albert Ramos 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
French eighth-seed Richard Gasquet outlasted Spanish 10th-seed Nicolas Almagro 6-7 (3/7), 7-5, 7-6 (7/3) and will next face Czech fourth-seed Tomas Berdych, who dispatched US 17th-seed Sam Querrey 6-1, 6-1.
Williams advances to quarters
In the women’s draw, world number one Serena Williams beat China’s fifth-seed Li Na 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) to book a semi-final tie against Polish fourth-seed Agnieszka Radwanska who rallied to beat Kirsten Flipkens, of Belgium, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
“It’s good to be able to at least come back,” said Williams. “I like to believe that I try to be a solver. I just try to do things different if something is not working.”
Williams had three aces and six double faults to one ace and seven double faults for Li.
“I just can’t hit any more double faults. It’s embarrassing and unprofessional. I hit about 50 in one game and it was just outrageous. It was like at this point I shouldn’t be a professional tennis player.”
Published in The Express Tribune, March 28th, 2013.
Two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic crashed out in the fourth round of the Miami Masters, while last year’s runner-up Andy Murray eased through to the quarter-finals in straight sets.
World number one Djokovic was stunned 6-2, 6-4 by German 15th-seed Tommy Haas but US Open winner Murray had no such difficulties, breezing past Italy’s Andreas Seppi by the same score in the $8.5 million ATP and WTA hardcourt event.
“There are days when you don’t feel good on the court and this is one of those days,” said Australian Open champion Djokovic. The Serb lost for just the second time this season, never getting to grips with Haas, who kept Djokovic off his game with a number of skillful shots.
“All credit goes to him. He was the better player. As far I am concerned it is the worst match I have played in a long time. I just didn’t feel good on the court. The conditions were different. The balls didn’t bounce at all and he used a variety of shots very well.
“I just didn’t find a solution to come back into the match.”
Haas, who turns 35 next week, advances to the last-eight where he will face Frenchman Gilles Simon who outlasted Djokovic’s countryman Janko Tipsarevic 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
“I had the mentality tonight going out there believing in it,” said Haas. “You’ve got to. I had a good game plan.”
Scotsman Murray, the 2009 Miami winner who lost to Djokovic in last year’s final, needed only 86 minutes to book a date in the last-eight with ninth-seed Croatian Marin Cilic.
“Today I served well,” said Murray. “When I was down in games I served pretty good, too.
“I just keep working on it each day. Focusing hard on each serve specifically.”
Cilic advanced with a 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) win over French sixth-seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Spanish third-seed David Ferrer advanced to the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Japan’s 13th-seeded Kei Nishikori.
He will play Austria’s Jurgen Melzer, who defeated Spain’s Albert Ramos 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
French eighth-seed Richard Gasquet outlasted Spanish 10th-seed Nicolas Almagro 6-7 (3/7), 7-5, 7-6 (7/3) and will next face Czech fourth-seed Tomas Berdych, who dispatched US 17th-seed Sam Querrey 6-1, 6-1.
Williams advances to quarters
In the women’s draw, world number one Serena Williams beat China’s fifth-seed Li Na 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) to book a semi-final tie against Polish fourth-seed Agnieszka Radwanska who rallied to beat Kirsten Flipkens, of Belgium, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
“It’s good to be able to at least come back,” said Williams. “I like to believe that I try to be a solver. I just try to do things different if something is not working.”
Williams had three aces and six double faults to one ace and seven double faults for Li.
“I just can’t hit any more double faults. It’s embarrassing and unprofessional. I hit about 50 in one game and it was just outrageous. It was like at this point I shouldn’t be a professional tennis player.”
Published in The Express Tribune, March 28th, 2013.