The inaugural semifinal at the Miami Tennis Cup featured Andy Roddick, who bowed out of the game this year, against reigning U.S. Open champion Andy Murray. Roddick, 2003 U.S. Open winner, prevailed 6-3, 6-2 over Murray to book his spot in tomorrow’s final.

Murray has had the upper hand in this rivalry with an 8-3 record. Consequently, Roddick was hungry for a victory although this is an exhibition tournament.

After converting on an early break point, Roddick built a 4-1 cushion. Down the road, on his third break point opportunity, courtesy of a Murray backhand crosscourt miscue, Roddick bagged the set 6-2 when Murray committed a second consecutive backhand crosscourt mistake.

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The inaugural Miami Tennis Cup will take place November 30th through December 2nd at the Crandon Park Tennis Center in Key Biscayne, Florida. The Crandon Park Tennis Center also plays host to one of the most popular tennis events on the ATP and WTA calendar, the Sony Open Tennis.

The Miami Tennis Cup will feature a “Super Six” format of current and former top ranked players from the ATP tour. Andy Murray, the 2012 US Open champion and Olympic gold medalist, will headline the event. Murray will be joined by Andy Roddick, John Isner, Nicolás Almagro, Alejandro Falla and Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Here is the official press release for the event that includes the tournament schedule and ticket information :

FIRST ANNUAL MIAMI TENNIS CUP HONORS US OPEN CHAMPION AND OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST, ANDY MURRAY, AND PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE CAREER OF LEGENDARY SPORTS ICON, ANDY RODDICK

Inaugural U.S. tournament features “Super Six” of the world’s top ranked players

Stadium Court at Crandon Park Tennis Center to receive unique color transformation

Miami, FL – Argentina’s Group NOS, one of South America’s leading producers of brand-immersive experiences in the sports and entertainment industry, has announced the first annual Miami Tennis Cup, taking place November 30th through December 2nd, 2012, at the prestigious Crandon Park Tennis Center in Key Biscayne, Florida.

The highly anticipated competition is the first of its kind to launch in the U.S. and receives its inauguration in South Florida, featuring six of today’s top ranked ATP professionals, including an exclusive appearance by U.S. Open Champion and British Olympic Gold Medalist, Andy Murray, and French Open Champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, the former world number one player from Spain. The tournament will also be a tribute to the iconic career of Florida resident, Andy Roddick, who will also be participating as part of his homecoming farewell tour. The “Super Six” clash of the titans will play in a double-elimination, round robin tournament format that will also feature ATP heavyweights Nicolás Almagro (ESP), Alejandro Falla (COL) and top ranked American, John Isner. All matches played throughout the three-day tournament will take place on the stadium court at Crandon Park and will be broadcast LIVE by ESPN3. More than 7,000 spectators are expected to attend each day.

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The fight to be king of the mountain will be settled at the All England Club. After a brilliant 2011 season, defending champion Novak Djokovic is under menace from Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer who are vying to strip away the Serb’s number one ranking. The Wimbledon draw has been released and for these three rivals, the path to the summit is a winding one.

For the second straight major, Djokovic and Federer are destined to clash in the semifinals. Djokovic has bested the Swiss six of the last seven times they’ve met. As such, Federer will need to conquer his mental demons if he hopes to get to the final.
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In a day session which progressed into the evening, Rafael Nadal prevailed over Radek Stepanek 6-2, 6-2 and improved his mark to 6-0 versus the Czech.

Despite the score, Stepanek was not a comfortable put away for Nadal using everything in his bag of tricks to disrupt the Spaniard. At one all in the first set, Stepanek forced Nadal to overcome break point in order to hold.

After failing to build on a 15-30 advantage on his rival’s serve, Stepanek was broken when Nadal connected on a forehand crosscourt pass for a winner. Next, Nadal consolidated for 5-2. Then, Nadal broke Stepanek a second time to bed the opening set.

Following a hold where he wiped out break point, Nadal converted to secure the break. In spite of Stepanek fighting, Nadal went on to stretch his lead to 3-0.
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Tomas Berdych and Grigor Dimitrov open up play on Stadium Court on Sunday at the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open. Following that matchup, Venus Williams hopes to build off her upset of Petra Kvitova and move on to the fourth round when she takes on Aleksandra Wozniak.

Other notable day session matches include Rafael Nadal versus Radek Stepanek on Stadium Court and Andy Murray versus Milos Raonic on the Grandstand.

In the night session, defending Sony Ericsson Open champion Victoria Azarenka is looking to extend her 25 match winning streak in 2012 when she faces off with Heather Watson. John Isner versus Florian Mayer will close out the evening session.

Here is today’s complete order of play :

Sunday, March 25, 2012

STADIUM Start 11:00 am

[7] Tomas Berdych (CZE) v Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) ATP

Not Before 1:00 PM
[WC] Venus Williams (USA) v [WC] Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) WTA

Not Before 3:00 PM
[20] Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) v [15] Ana Ivanovic (SRB) WTA
[25] Radek Stepanek (CZE) v [2] Rafael Nadal (ESP) ATP

Starting at 7:30 PM
[1] Victoria Azarenka (BLR) v [WC] Heather Watson (GBR) WTA

Not Before 9:30 PM
[19] Florian Mayer (GER) v [10] John Isner (USA) ATP

GRANDSTAND Start 11:00 am

[18] Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR) v [9] Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) ATP
[13] Gilles Simon (FRA) v [22] Jurgen Melzer (AUT) ATP
[26] Milos Raonic (CAN) v [4] Andy Murray (GBR) ATP
Silvia Soler-Espinosa (ESP) v [5] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) WTA

Not Before 5:00 PM
[1] Bob Bryan (USA)/Mike Bryan (USA) v
Marcelo Melo (BRA)/Juan Monaco (ARG) ATP

COURT 1 Start 11:00 am

Simona Halep (ROU) v [7] Marion Bartoli (FRA) WTA
[WC] Garbine Muguruza Blanco (ESP) v [24] Flavia Pennetta (ITA) WTA
[6] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) v [32] Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) ATP
[16] Kei Nishikori (JPN) v Lukas Rosol (CZE) ATP

Not Before 6:00 PM
Oliver Marach (AUT)/Alexander Peya (AUT) v
[2] Max Mirnyi (BLR)/Daniel Nestor (CAN) ATP

COURT 2 Start 11:00 am

Jie Zheng (CHN) v [16] Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) WTA
David Marrero (ESP)/Fernando Verdasco (ESP) v
Feliciano Lopez (ESP)/Marc Lopez (ESP) ATP
Ksenia Pervak (KAZ) v [22] Maria Kirilenko (RUS) WTA
Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)/Jie Zheng (CHN) v
Eva Birnerova (CZE)/Klaudia Jans-Ignacik (POL) WTA
Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)/Jean-Julien Rojer (NED) v
Daniele Bracciali (ITA)/Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL) ATP

COURT 3 Start 12:00 noon

[6] Sara Errani (ITA)/Roberta Vinci (ITA) v
[WC] Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER)/Petra Martic (CRO) WTA

For fans hopeful of a rematch between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in the Sony Ericsson Open final, neither man will have a comfortable trip in getting there.

Djokovic could contend with Marcos Baghdatis in his opening match, countryman Viktor Troicki in the third round or Richard Gasquet in the fourth round. Also, in the quarterfinals, Juan Martin Del Potro or the relentless David Ferrer may stump the world number one.

Moreover, besides Nikolay Davydenko who was unable to defend his 2008 title due to injury, since 2006 no prior year’s champion has advanced beyond the round of 16.

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Seeded seventh and ranked 36th in the world, Kevin Anderson was the outright favorite over qualifier Marinko Matosevic in the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships final. Although it was no cakewalk, Anderson managed to fend off Matosevic 6-4, 7-6 to bank the trophy.

Matosevic was attempting to become the third qualifier to hoist the big prize and the fifth Australian to win the ITC. The last Aussie was Lleyton Hewitt in 1999. Anderson was the first South African to advance to the final in the history of the tournament.

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In the battle of the giants, Kevin Anderson prevailed over top seed John Isner 7-5, 7-6 to reach the final of the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships.

Anderson interrupted an All American semifinal by beating fourth seed Andy Roddick in the prior round. Before this match, Isner had yet to drop a set this week. Isner, the world number eleven, had a slim edge over Anderson in their record of 3-2.

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The Delray Beach International Tennis Championships singles’ draw has been released with American John Isner as the top seed.

Isner faces compatriot Jessie Levine in the opening round while 2002 finalist and fourth seed Andy Roddick squares off against German Philipp Petzschner.

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Although this semifinal was scheduled for Saturday night, it’s conclusion came after one in the morning Sunday. Following a couple of shower intermissions, top seed Gael Monfils edged local favorite John Isner 6-4,3-6,7-6 to reach his initial final at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic.

Four years ago, Isner surprisingly advanced to the final in Washington. Along the way, in their first encounter, Isner prevailed over Monfils, a top 50 player, in a thrilling semifinal third set tiebreaker.

Tonight, subsequent to Isner carrying the opening game, Monfils’ turn was halted by rain. Ultimately when play resumed, the points went along quickly.

After Monfils erased a break point to hold, Isner’s did the same with a 135 mph serve. Despite further difficulties, Isner maintained serve for 3-2.

Later though, when Isner misfired on a forehand, Monfils had his second break point of the ninth game. The Frenchman converted courtesy of an errant forehand by Isner to ascend 5-4. Soon, with a strong service game, Monfils closed out the first set.

Isner and Monfils had tussled five times prior, with each meeting decided by a third set. Apparently, Monfils did not feel like deviating from the script.

By hitting a forehand wide, Monfils handed Isner double break point. The Frenchman compounded that mistake with a ill advised dropshot to gift the break. Promptly with a love game, Isner consolidated for a 3-0 lead.

In the fifth game, a dreadful incident occurred whereby one of Isner’s serving bullets struck a spectator in the eye. After the injured person was attended to and a horrified Isner gathered himself, play resumed.

With Isner leading 5-2, another rain stoppage came. With Monfils incapable of a break point, Isner captured the second set.

At 3-2 in the decisive set, Monfils forced Isner into a forehand mistake for break point. By taking out his big gun, Isner salvaged the game to level the set at 3 all.

The next time Isner served, Monfils was again at 0-30. Yet, he could not fabricate a break point. However, ahead 5-4, Monfils arrived at his first match point when Isner committed a forehand error.

But with a crisp volley, Isner got to deuce. A second match point by Monfils was dismissed with a second serve ace. Not certain of the umpire’s call, Monfils challenged. With the review system malfunctioning, the call stood. Monfils shrugged it off; the two even exchanged a knuckle high five.

Eventually, the tiebreaker settled the winner. As each competitor guarded serve, Isner thumped an ace to get to his first match point. Monfils replicated to square the breaker at 6 a piece.

Then, with a courageous lob winner, Monfils secured his third match point. When Isner dumped his forehand into the net. Monfils booked a place in the final of a U.S. tournament for the first time.

It’s conspicuous that these two share a mutual respect as they embraced at the net. Monfils said as much after the match “I have great respect for John. I like his mentality and it’s always a pleasure for me to play him”.

Monfils expressed that he was relieved to finish the match. During the breaks, he had his coach to distract him and did not get too anxious.

With the momentum after the first set, Monfils lost his way early on in the second. MiamiTennisNews.com asked him to evaluate that part of the match “he played two solid points and I played two fancy shots”.

Monfils admitted that his judgment was flawed “instead of the dropshot, I could have hit another forehand . . . because from the baseline I’m a bit stronger than him. I did not play with my weapon. Once you lose serve against John, you know it’s three sets”.

Although it’s less than twenty-four hours before the final, Monfils stated that fatigue will not be a factor. The shear adrenaline from being in his first final of the season will squelch any physical or mental tiredness.

Isner was attempting to reach his third consecutive final after bagging the title in Newport and runner up status in Atlanta. Isner was also glad to resolve the semifinal tonight. Now, he can move on to his next stop, the Rogers Cup.

In tomorrow’s final, Monfils will collide with Radek Stepanek. They last clashed in Hamburg a few weeks ago with Monfils victorious.

Monfils is at a career high ranking of seven while Stepanek is world number 54. Although Monfils has been a finalist the last two years at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Paris, his three ATP titles have been at the 250 level.

Both men have a losing mark in finals with Monfils at 3-10 and Stepanek 4-7. However, Monfils has a 5-2 record over his opponent. For both men it will be their maiden ATP 500 trophy.