It’s been a difficult week for Djokovic who was informed of his grandfather’s death hours prior to playing his round of 16 match. Yet, Nadal must have had doubts coming into this final considering he had not beaten his rival since the Barclays ATP World tour Finals in November 2010.

From the get-go, Nadal was focused and broke early on to build a 3-1 advantage in the opening set. Djokovic did his utmost to zero in on the task at hand, but, the errors simply kept mounting even on his money stroke, the backhand.

Sealing another untroubled game with an ace, Nadal moved ahead 5-3. Then, with Djokovic sending a backhand long, Nadal had double set point. When the world number one pushed another backhand wide, Nadal broke for the second time to take the first set.

After swiftly guarding serve, Nadal provoked Djokovic into a backhand miscue for double break point. Once again, Djokovic obliged Nadal with a backhand mistake and gifted him the break. Subsequently, with a love hold, Nadal raced to a 3-0 lead.

By winning his sixth game in a row, Nadal got an insurance break for 4-0. Next, Djokovic manufactured his maiden break points of the afternoon and managed to break at love to get on the board, Yet, Nadal quickly reestablished his double break edge with a break at love of his own for 5-1.

As a result of an error by Djokovic, Nadal arrived at double championship. Later, with an ace, the Spaniard punctuated the set and recorded the victory.

Perhaps Djokovic’s apology for his performance was an indication that his mind was not totally on tennis. Nevertheless, he congratulated Nadal and stated “you deserve to win”. Djokovic expressed that he was “happy to reach the final for the second time . . .and it will be a pleasure to take a part in the tournament next year”.

Without question, Nadal was at his best on his best surface, dismissing Djokovic in 1 hour 18 minutes. While Nadal was thrilled with the outcome, he recognized that his opponent was not in peak form.

With this tongue and cheek comment, Nadal turned to Djokovic and said “thanks for letting me win today”. Moreover, Nadal cited that “it’s an honor to play on this court, in front of the fans”. With a winning streak of 42 straight matches, it’s no surprise that Nadal deemed Monte-Carlo “my favorite tournament”.

There are a myriad of events prior to the French Open on May 27th. Nadal moves on to Barcelona this upcoming week where he is the defending champion and will attempt to capture his seventh title. On April 30th, the Serbia Open begins where Djokovic will try to defend.

Djokovic, the defending champion, is striving for his third title on Sunday in Miami on Sunday. While Murray, the 2009 victor, is hoping for a similar result as the last time they met at this venue in order to bank his second.

Murray who has had two walkovers at this event one from Milos Raonic in the third round and the other from Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. Despite looking vulnerable at moments, Djokovic has dispatched opponents such as Marcos Baghdatis, Richard Gasquet and David Ferrer in two sets.

Djokovic and Murray have spared in two semifinals already this season with Djokovic winning at the Australian Open while Murray prevailing in Dubai. Still, in their head to head, Djokovic leads Murray 7-5.

Here is Sunday’s order of play :

Sunday, April 1 , 2012

STADIUM Start 1:00 pm

[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) v [4] Andy Murray (GBR) ATP
[5] Maria Kirilenko (RUS)/Nadia Petrova (RUS) v
[6] Sara Errani (ITA)/Roberta Vinci (ITA) WTA

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday, Monaco was on cloud nine as he ushered in his 28th birthday by taking apart world number eight Mardy Fish for his first semifinal showing at the Sony Ericsson Open.

The Monaco of the quarterfinals was no where to be found the opening set. In twenty-seven minutes, conceding only eight points with two by way of double faults, Djokovic wrapped up the first set.

Monaco last encountered Djokovic in 2010 and had yet to compete against the new iron man version. Having lost their previous four meetings, Monaco was perhaps shell-shocked. With such a dismal performance, the Argentine could only improve.

Monaco salvaged break point to open the second set then held at love for 2-1. Later, however after having two game points, Monaco surrendered his serve allowing Djokovic to get to 3-2.

Subsequent to staving off a break point, Monaco’s first of the evening, Djokovic extended his lead to 4-2.

With his backhand letting him down, Djokovic fended off triple break point to get to 5-3. Soon, with a hold at love, Monaco forced Djokovic to serve for the match.

The plot thickened as Monaco in another game with triple break point, converted the fourth time of asking to level the set at 5-5.

As Djokovic squandered a break point in the eleventh game, the match ultimately went to a tiebreaker.

Monaco’s weak link, the forehand, handed Djokovic a mini-break for 5-3. Although the Argentine recovered to ward off one match point. As another forehand sailed long, Djokovic booked his place into his fourth final in Miami.

Miami is Djokovic’s second final of the season after successfully defending at the Australian Open. Djokovic was pleased with the straight sets win “it was exciting match I think for us and for the crowd. It was semifinals. It was never going to be easy. I didn’t expect an easy match and just happy to be through”.

Yet, Djokovic admitted that he gave his opponents hope the last two matches “as I did yesterday in the quarterfinals, I started very strong, just going for the shots, being very aggressive. Then I just wasn’t able to close it out. . .all the credit to him for fighting and coming back. I gave him points. I made so many unforced errors that I got him back into the match”.

Djokovic will meet Andy Murray in the final. The Brit got a walkover as Rafael Nadal withdrew from the semifinals due to a knee injury.

Djokovic knows he will pay dearly if he has second sets similar to the last two against Murray “It could have been easily a third set. . .I’m in the finals and that’s a positive fact. I’ll try in the finals not to have that letdown”.

Subsequent to the semifinals at the Australian Open, Murray and Djokovic battled in Dubai with the former coming out on top.

Djokovic has a 7-5 edge over Murray. Murray defeated the Serb in the final at the Sony Ericsson Open in 2009.

Previously, Sharapova had reached three finals at Sony Ericsson Open in 2005, 2006 and 2011. Moreover, Sharapova is seeking her initial title of the year after being stopped by world number one Victoria Azarenka at the Australian Open and Indian Wells.

After this match, the men’s doubles trophy will be settled. Australian Open champion Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek will face second seed Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor. Paes is attempting to win his third straight Sony Ericsson Open doubles title, each with a different partner.

Mirnyi has been a doubles champion on three prior occasions in Miami last in 2009 while Nestor has prevailed once in 2002.

Here is Saturday’s order of play :

Saturday, March 31, 2012

STADIUM Start 12:30 pm

[5] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) v [2] Maria Sharapova (RUS) WTA

[7] Leander Paes (IND)/Radek Stepanek (CZE) v
[2] Max Mirnyi (BLR)/Daniel Nestor (CAN) ATP

In facing the media, Nadal explained “since the beginning of the tournament, I have [had] problems. . . The thing is growing worse every day. After the last match, I saw that the situation was going to be complicated to play today. But, as always, I believe that things can improve”.

Nadal went on to say “I am not ready to compete today. I am very sorry for the fans, for the tournament, for everybody. . .on television”.

The Spaniard has been plagued with knee issues for quite a while. He is unsure the exact nature of this problem but surmised “I have to go to the doctor. . .but it looks like nothing different from what happened a few times in the past”.

Ironically, at the Australian Open in 2010, Nadal retired against Murray due a right knee problem. Consequently, Nadal, a three time finalist in Miami will have to postpone his dream of hoisting the Sony Ericsson trophy at least another year.

For Murray this represents his second walkover at this event. Milos Raonic pulled out of their third round match due to an ankle injury.

Murray also answered a few questions about the Nadal situation. Murray, the 2009 champion, will play either Novak Djokovic or Juan Monaco. That match will be in the evening.

Here are the full transcripts of the Nadal and Murray interviews.

Q. Perhaps you could just take us through the situation you’re faced with. We assume it’s your knee. Could you tell us the story of the last couple of days?

RAFAEL NADAL: Oh, I started the ‑‑ since the beginning of the tournament I have problems, but the real thing is growing worse every day. So after the last match, I saw that the situation were going to be complicated to play today. But, as always, I always believe that the things can improve. So I waited until today in the morning. I did a lot of treatment yesterday, waiting, that we can recover a little bit for today. But I am not ready to compete today. I am very sorry for the fans. I’m very sorry for the tournament. I’m very sorry for everybody who were ready to watch the match on the television, for television, for everybody. But I don’t have pleasure. I cannot do it another thing. I am not ready to compete, and I cannot go on court and lie to everybody. That’s the thing today.

Q. Can you describe the problem exactly for us? Do you know what it is precisely?

RAFAEL NADAL: I have problems on the left knee. I cannot ‑‑ I have to go to doctor, but looks like is nothing really, really different that happen a few times in the past. Just go to the doctor hopefully tomorrow, and hopefully in a few days, with a few days off and with the right treatment, I will be in the right conditions to start to practice on the clay.

Q. Because obviously you want to protect as best you can for the clay court season coming up? You say just going out there and running around on the hard court is not going to do you any good in the long run?

RAFAEL NADAL: Yes, but not. Yes, I want to arrive to the clay court with the right conditions, but I want to arrive here with the right conditions. That’s why I rest all February. So I am not thinking ‑‑ I am not going on court today not because I have the clay court season. I am not going on court today because I cannot go on court today. No, no. Nothing about clay court season. Clay court season is there in two weeks, but this tournament is very important for me, and I feel very sad to have to go out before a beautiful match for me, semifinals against Andy.

Q. What is your clay court schedule? What are the chances that that may change now?

RAFAEL NADAL: Nothing change. Even if it’s sad to finish these two tournaments like this, playing two semifinals is a good result for me. First three tournaments of the year I played final and two semifinals in very difficult tournaments, so that’s the positive thing that stays on my mind, playing good tennis. It’s true the last day I did not play good tennis, but my knee is not ready to play good tennis. So in general, I am very happy almost about everything. My schedule gonna be the same. Monte‑Carlo, Barcelona, first two tournaments.

Q. How worrying is it to have the same thing happen again with your knee when you thought it was fixed?

RAFAEL NADAL: Less than if I have a new thing, because something that happened in the past, I know what to do to get better quick, and that’s what we’re gonna try.

Q. So where are you going now? Where are you going from here? Are you going back to Mallorca?

RAFAEL NADAL: I don’t know yet. I gonna ‑‑ I have to check a few things. I want to go to visit the doctor, and I don’t know if I will be able to do it ‑‑ I will try to do it as fast as possible, to try to come back on court as quick as possible, too.

Q. Did you have any problems coming out of your training in February? When you went to Indian Wells, everything was good?

RAFAEL NADAL: I start to feel a little bit in Mallorca. But, no, everybody has ‑‑ almost everybody has pain when you are playing in this high level of competition, no? The true is in Indian Wells I had ‑‑ I start to have problems on the knee before Indian Wells, and Indian Wells I have my problems on the knee. But that problem, no, are not limiting me to play at 100%.
So I played in Indian Wells with the normal conditions, playing in good shape physically and everything. Here is different.

Q. Is it described as tendinitis or something else?

RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah. But seriously the tendons are much better today than three years ago. The treatments worked fantastic. Even if today a really bad knee and last couple of days were tough for me, but positive thing the tendon improve a lot the last couple of years. I am more health with both tendons than now. So the treatments are working well. In 2009 I really compete but compete in very bad conditions a lot of times. For the last couple of years, 2010, 2011, I was able to compete with perfect conditions for almost all the year. So that’s always fantastic when that’s happening. This year I started well with no problems. Today is bad news, but that’s the sport. We cannot expect playing as much as we play, be perfect every day of our life. Today is my turn. Everybody have problems, and I will be working hard to be back quick on court and to play my best in Monte‑Carlo.

Q. You always play with a lot of injuries. Are you more cautious now? Because you always play with ‑‑ I remember US Open when you have the other thing. Are you more cautious now?

RAFAEL NADAL: No, no, I always try my best. But today I feel that I am not ready to compete, no? I always start hard. I tried in the US Open like the example in 2009, but I have big broke of the abdominal at the end of the US Open. Then after US Open I had to stop for one month and a half with no competition. So I cannot repeat mistakes from the past, but that doesn’t mean that I am more afraid about playing with pains or not. I try my best in every moment with pain, without pain, but when I see the situation is done and I cannot, I cannot. That’s it.

Q. Is it fair to say this is one of the stranger weeks of your tennis career, two walkovers?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah. I mean, to be honest, it hasn’t really happened to me that often where even one guy has done that. Actually, like last week, couple weeks ago, I was trying to remember like when it happened, and I remember Tursunov in Shanghai, and then before that I couldn’t really remember when it happened before that. So, yeah. I mean, to get two in one week is strange. That doesn’t happen often really at all. Yeah, strange.

Q. Will you have any anxiety about not having had enough court time going into the final?

ANDY MURRAY: I mean, I don’t know. You don’t really know the answer to that. You never know how you’re gonna play on the day. Obviously, you know, you don’t play a match for three or four days, it’s different than if you played one, you know, one or two days ago. But then the positives are that you’re going to be fresh and physically feeling fine. So who knows. Wait and see on the day. It’s never happened to me before. So I don’t really know how I’m gonna feel for the final, but I’ll definitely be fresh.

Q. Can you actually recall going on court, preparing to play a left‑hander, and suddenly find yourself half an hour later playing someone who’s right‑handed preparing for another match?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, it is. I mean, like you say, it’s never really happened to me like that before. Obviously I guess the one benefit here is that there is a day in between, so I’ll have tomorrow to practice with righties. The last of couple days I have been hitting with lefties.
Practiced for like half an hour, 40 minutes with last Paes and Stepanek just to get used to playing righties again. I have done a lot of practicing, a lot of hitting balls this week, not a lot of match play. It’s been quite a strange week. Hopefully the final, whoever it is, is going to be fit and well and we can have a good match.

Q. I know there is a rivalry, but how much of you says, Hey, good, I’ll take this?

ANDY MURRAY: Well, today not really. I mean, you know, every time you play against one of the top guys in the world, it’s always a good opportunity to see exactly where your game’s at. You know, I have been working with Ivan now for a couple of months. We worked on a lot of things to see, certain tactics and stuff and practice that would work against Rafa, Novak, and Roger. It would have been, I mean, for me, nice to see whether or not those things were working. Yeah. I mean, I guess when it happens, you’ve got to take it, but at the same time it’s always a good test to see pretty much exactly where your game’s at. Like after the Australian Open, it was good for me to play against Novak quite soon afterwards, after I had done the 10‑day training block of working on some things, and I obviously won against him but then lost against Roger. So some things that work well against Novak don’t work so well against Roger, and the things that work against Rafa don’t work against those two (smiling). So, yeah, it’s a good test, um, of the things you’ve been working on every time you play against them.

Q. Did you speak to Rafa today?

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah. He messaged me ‑‑ I actually didn’t see it. When I got told, I sat down and looked at my phone, and he messaged me to tell me that he wasn’t going to play. So I guess that was pretty much just as I started practicing, and then I saw him afterwards in the locker room, and, yeah, I spoke to him for a little bit.

The world number two and four have budded heads eighteen times previously with Nadal the winner on thirteen of those occasions. Murray is the 2009 champion in Miami while Nadal has been the runner-up three times including last year.

Juan Monaco continues his sensational run in defeating top American Mardy Fish to advance to his first semifinal in South Florida. The Argentine is seeking to clench his maiden Masters’ 1000 level final.

Monaco will see defending champion Novak Djokovic across the net. Djokovic has a 4-0 mark against the Argentine, they have not played since 2010.

Here is today’s complete order of play :

Friday, March 30, 2012

STADIUM Start 12:45 pm

Vania King (USA)/Monica Niculescu (ROU) v
[5] Maria Kirilenko (RUS)/Nadia Petrova (RUS) WTA

Not Before 3:00 PM

[4] Andy Murray (GBR) v [2] Rafael Nadal (ESP) ATP

Starting at 7:00 PM

[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) v [21] Juan Monaco (ARG)ATP
[6] Sara Errani (ITA)/Roberta Vinci (ITA) v
[WC] Gisela Dulko (ARG)/Paola Suarez (ARG) WTA

Despite Djokovic’s 7-5 record against his rival, the Serb is well aware that Ferrer is someone who never admits defeat until the hand shake at the net.

After securing a break in the opening set, Djokovic jumped to a 3-1 edge. On a double fault from Ferrer, a second break was gifted and swiftly Djokovic punctuated the set.

Subsequent to breaking Ferrer to start the next set, Djokovic found himself in a protracted game. With his reliable backhand floundering, Djokovic surrendered his serve. Ferrer went on to guard serve and move ahead 2-1.

Unable to capitalized on a break point in the fourth game or build on a 0-30 advantage later, Ferrer stared at double break point when his forehand kissed his side of the net. Soon, Djokovic banked the break to arrive at 5-4.

However, with Djokovic serving for the match, Ferrer won a 40 stroke rally to manufacture break point. Then, with a forehand overhand winner, Ferrer knotted the second set at 5-5.

Down the road, a tiebreaker was required. Djokovic dominated to pen his name opposite Juan Monaco in the semifinal.

Djokovic acknowledged that he came in expecting to work for this victory “David, he’s like a wall on the court. [He] gets a lot of balls back, always makes you play an extra shot. So that’s something that I was expecting”.

The Serb went on to say “I needed to play aggressive and step into the court from the first point. That’s what I did. I had a fantastic first set. . .then in some moments, I allowed him to take control in the rallies and just waiting for him to make an unforced error. He used it wisely and he got back to the match. Luckily for me, it was decided in tiebreaker”.

Djokovic expressed that everyone on tour respects Ferrer greatly “because of his dedication to the sport. He’s a great guy off the court. Loves the sport. He’s very determined to improve always, a great competitor. You know, he runs for every ball. Before the match you see him, 20 minutes, he’s like nonstop running around. He’s so warmed up, he makes you warm up better. . . it’s bad luck for him to lose in many semifinals”.

Earlier in the day, Monaco who is celebrating his 28th birthday astonished top American Mardy Fish 6-1,6-3 to get to his first semifinal in Miami. Monaco who will be in his second Masters 1000 semifinal is hoping for his maiden victory over Djokovic.

Monaco and Djokovic have met four times last in 2010. Consequently, Monaco has never clashed against the new version of Djokovic who had a near perfect season in 2011.

After reaching her maiden semifinal in Miami, Wozniacki will attempt to advance to her initial final of the season. Subsequent to her enormous victory in the quarterfinals over Serena Williams, the 21 year old will not be deterred by the challenge.

A runner up three times including 2011, Sharapova has been to the final on every occasion that she’s progressed past the fourth round at this event. It’s the initial encounter between these two this year. Sharapova has a slim advantage in their head to head of 3-2.

Surprise quarterfinalist Juan Monaco takes the court against Mardy Fish after the ladies. Although they’ve split their previous four meetings, Monaco won the last two in 2011.

Monaco is vying for his first semifinal appearance in Miami. His only previous semifinal at the Masters 1000 level was in Shanghai in 2010.

Fish who has had a lackluster beginning to this season is in his first quarterfinal of 2012. The world number eight is hoping to reach the semifinal here for the second straight year.

The top doubles team of Mike and Bob Bryan are also in action in the afternoon and will take on Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek in the semifinals.

In the evening session defending champion Novak Djokovic squares off against David Ferrer. Ferrer was one of the few players to notch a win over Djokovic last year. Djokovic has prevailed in seven of their twelve meetings. Ferrer has been a semifinalist twice at the Sony Ericsson Open, last in 2006.

The night closes with Marion Bartoli and Agnieszka Radwanska with each player striving for her first final at the Sony Ericsson Open. Both women are on a high after landmark triumphs.

Bartoli defeated world number one Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals terminating Azarenka’s perfect year. Radwanska stopped Venus Williams who was on a spectacular run her initial tournament following a prolonged absence.

Bartoli will be searching for her initial victory over Radwanska. The latter has captured all six of their previous encounters.

Here is Thursday’s order of play :

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Stadium Start 1:00 pm

[4] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) v [2] Maria Sharapova (RUS) WTA

Not Before 3:00 PM

[21] Juan Monaco (ARG) v [8] Mardy Fish (USA) ATP

[1] Bob Bryan (USA)/Mike Bryan (USA) v
[7] Leander Paes (IND)/Radek Stepanek (CZE) ATP

Starting at 7:00 PM

[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) v [5] David Ferrer (ESP) ATP

Not Before 9:00 PM

Marion Bartoli (FRA) v [5] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) WTA

Court 1 Start 3:30 pm

[6] Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/Rohan Bopanna (IND) v
Lukasz Kubot (POL) OR Max Mirnyi (BLR)/Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) OR Daniel Nestor (CAN) ATP

Last year, these two had a second round encounter in Miami. Nishikori coming back from injury and ranked 62nd at that juncture gave the Spaniard quite a battle. Now at a career high of 16 and a quarterfinalist in Australia this year, the first Japanese player achieve this feat, Nishikori is beginning to realize his promise.

Nishikori drew first blood breaking Nadal and building a 2-1 advantage. Promptly though, Nadal cashed in on a break chance of his own.

Later after holding for 5-4 and calling the trainer to address a bothersome left knee which had to be taped, Nadal broke Nishikori to bank the opening set.

With Nishikori’s volley traveling long, Nadal had double break point in the second set. After capitalizing, the Spaniard went on to comfortably guard serve extending his lead to 3-0.

Nevertheless, Nishikori would not be discouraged. By holding serve, he forced Nadal to serve for the match at 5-3.

By being aggressive, Nishikori provoked Nadal into a forehand miscue resulting in break point. A charitable net cord permitted Nishikori to convert and stay alive at 4-5.

Swiftly though Nadal himself was on the attack and an error by Nishikori led to match point. But, Nishikori survived.

When Nishikori struck a forehand crosscourt wide, Nadal had his third match point. As the Japanese’s forehand sailed long, Nadal moved on to the next round after two hours and eleven minutes.

Subsequent to the match, Nadal was frank in citing that it was not easy “the beginning was very tough for me. I started playing more aggressive, playing shorter, so I suffered a lot with my serves the beginning of the match. . . At the end of the first set, I felt that I start to win my serves easier than him. So the last couple of games of the first set, I believe that I had more control of the games”.

Nadal went on to say “the second set I started well, 3Love, I didn’t suffer a lot with my serve. Just in the last game at 53 that I didn’t play my best game there and he broke me. Happy to have the break back later and finally win the match”. With regards to Nishikori, Nadal sees him as a future top ten player “he’s playing great tennis. He’s able to do the most difficult things in this sport very easy because he’s able to go inside the court, change the direction of the ball. That’s probably the most difficult thing of this sport”.

Furthermore, Nadal expressed “ when he improves and he plays with a little bit less mistakes in some moments, he will be fighting for everything. So I like a lot how Kei plays. I have big respect for him. Before the match I knew this match was a very dangerous one for me, and another reason I’m very happy to be through”.

Concerning the left knee injury, Nadal explained “I had this since Indian Wells. During the week of Indian Wells, the knee was getting a little bit worse. I arrived here soso, and happy I’m playing in the quarterfinals. . . For me here is an important tournament, and every victory has a very, very big value for me, especially without being perfect“.

In the quarterfinals, Nadal will collide with either Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Florian Mayer. These two will battle it out later in the afternoon.

The last time Roddick was victorious over Federer was a night session also at the Miami Masters in 2008. Since then, Federer has won their six meetings including a heartbreaker in the final of Wimbledon in 2009.

In the third game of the opening set, Federer had double break point. But, Roddick did not flinch and eventually held. With no further break chances for either player, the first set went to a tiebreaker.

Roddick connected with a forehand pass for a winner to get the crucial mini-break for 5-3. That was sufficient for Roddick to carry the first set.

Federer came out blazing in the second set converting an early break point for 2-1. Moreover, Federer broke two more times to push the match to a decisive set.

After holding serve to start the third set, with a backhand volley winner, Federer arrived at 0-40. But, Roddick found the exit, saving a fourth break point for 1 all.

Next, with three winners, Roddick manufactured triple break point of his own. Roddick capitalized by striking a forehand pass for a winner.

With Federer unable to fabricate any further break point opportunities, Roddick went on to claim the match and a spot in the fourth round.

Up next for Roddick is Juan Monaco. The Argentine ousted 14th seed Gael Monfils 4-6,6-3,6-4.