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Federer Fends Off Albut to Advance to the Third Round at the Miami Open

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Federer Fends Off Albut to Advance to the Third Round at the Miami Open


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Three time Miami Open and holder of 20 majors Roger Federer struggled today in his opening match. Still, in the end, the Swiss put away qualifier Radu Albot 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 to move on to the third round at the Miami Open.

Playing someone for the first time can be a tricky, Federer dropped the opening game of the match and could not bank on any of the four break points he manufactured. Consequently, Albot, who secured his first ATP tile this year in Delray Beach, grew in confidence. Federer finally capitalized on break point in the second set to push the match to a third set. Once again, in the last set, one break point in Federer’s favor was the difference.

Federer pinpointed that his struggles stemmed from the fact that ” I felt like I was in two minds, how you play sometimes in a first round. You’re looking to take on the ball, but then sometimes you also know you just cannot go big all the time. You also have to hold back. Sometimes you feel like it happens always at the wrong times. You pull the trigger at the wrong times. You’re going safe at the wrong times. That has something to do with how I thought he played his game. He seemed very clear to me, and I wasn’t. In the heat of the moment, I started forgetting stuff also that my coach told me. I felt like all the important points, points that could have led to something interesting for me, I played poorly because I was in two minds. . . I thought actually how I protected my serve, after getting broken in the first game, was actually very good. There’s definitely really some good elements there in the game, but I did struggle obviously. I’m very, very happy that I found a way.”

In addition to the opponent, there was the venue to contend with “there’s definitely always a slight sort of buzz in the stadium. I think it’s more because of the size and the ventilation. You feel there’s always a bit of a noise there, which is sometimes a bit unusual for tennis. Of course, indoors you get that more often. We do have it occasionally. . .a very key element of our sport is you can hear a pin drop. . .Here it’s not so much the case. When somebody hits the ball, it’s not as clear maybe, which then can feel almost like it’s a little bit of an empty space. That can feel maybe a little bit different. I didn’t feel like it was totally something out of the ordinary where I had no clue where my boundaries were, like I’ve had maybe at some other courts from around the world in the past. I’ve gotten used to it quite quickly. . .it’s a big place. I mean, the side stands are huge. It goes far away. It’s unusual to have it that way. I would have thought maybe they would put it in the corner, the stadium, instead of on the long side. Still it was a good atmosphere.”

Stanislas Wawrinka, Federer’s countryman, was not as fortunate. The three time major champion fell in the day’s initial match to Filip Krajinovic 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 spoiling the all Swiss third round collision. Wawrinka led in the tiebreaker 5-2 and lost the next five points.

Other notable upsets include 9th seed Marin Cilic who went down to qualifier Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-4. Tenth seed Karen Khachanov was sent packing by Australian Jordan Thompson 6-2, 6-3. American qualifier Reilly Opelka stunned 21st seed Argentine Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. While 20th seed Denis Shapovalov squeezed by lucky loser Daniel Evans 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Also, moving onto third round are Kevin Anderson who toughed it out against Jaime Munar in three sets. Grigor Dimitrov had no trouble with Feliciano Lopez. The Bulgarina dismissed the Spaniard in 60 minutes, 6-1, 6-3. Eighth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, 13th seed Danil Medvedev, Leonardo Mayer, 18th seed David Goffin and Joao Sousa booked their bid into round three in straight sets.

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Order Restored at the Miami Open as Djokovic Cruises

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Order Restored at the Miami Open as Djokovic Cruises


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Miami, Ricky Dimon
Order was restored to the Miami Open on Sunday, when scorching conditions relinquished at least a small part of their grip on Crandon Park Tennis center. Three retirements in the men’s singles draw had taken place amidst brutal heat on Saturday, which was not what the tournament needed 24 hours after Roger Federer withdrew due to illness. But no early stoppages plagued the field on Sunday as third-round action got underway.

Novak Djokovic’s only real trouble came in the form of a nasty fall during his first set against Joao Sousa. The world No. 1 also dropped serve twice in the opener, but he eventually picked up the pace and cruised to a 6-4, 6-1 victory.

“I slipped few times,” Djokovic commented. “Conditions here are quite different from Indian Wells. It’s pretty humid. Players are sweating a lot, so you have some obviously spots, especially behind the baseline, where it’s a little bit too wet…. That first set went down to a few points; (a) couple (of) long games when I lost my serve and then I broke him back. After that it was quite a good performance.”

It was a positively dominant one in set two. Djokovic surrendered a mere three points in three service games while breaking Sousa on three occasions. Sousa won just 10 points in the entire set before bowing out after one hour and 17 minutes.

“(The) second set felt much more comfortable,” the top-seeded Serb assured. “(I was) serving very well the entire day. It’s not easy. Obviously everybody talks about conditions being different, but it’s something that you have to accept. It’s same for your opponent and you. I’m glad that I managed to finish the match the way (I did).”

Four of the eight men’s matches on Sunday took long, circuitous routes to finish. A quartet of contests went the three-set distance and each of those four lasted more than two and half hours.

Tomas Berdych and Steve Johnson began the day on stadium court and the Czech needed two hours and 43 minutes to hold off the American 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3. On the Grandstand, lucky loser Horacio Zeballos saved one match point before upsetting Fernando Verdasco 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) in two hours and 34 minutes. Following a Richard Gasquet rout of Benoit Paire in between, Gilles Simon outlasted Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3 in two hours and 46 minutes. It was the sixth time in as many head-to-head meetings that Simon and Cilic went to a final set.

Arguably the best was saved for last, as the nightcap in the stadium saw David Ferrer and Lucas Pouille battle to just a few minutes shy of 12:00 a.m. After two hours and 45 minutes of a roller-coaster affair, Pouille pulled off a 6-7(1), 7-6(5), 7-5 upset. The Frenchman held serve at 6-5 in the third from 15-40 down to clinch the biggest win of his career.

Ricky Dimon is a contributor in Miami and writes for tenngrand.com. You can follow him on Twitter under @Dimonator by clicking here.

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Del Potro Stifles Verdasco to Capture the Estoril Open Title

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Del Potro Stifles Verdasco to Capture the Estoril Open Title



The last time Juan Martin Del Potro competed on clay, he was battling Roger Federer in the 2009 French Open semifinals. Del Potro demonstrated that he can be a threat on this surface in Paris this year. The Argentine annihilated Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-2 for his second title of the season.

After failing to consolidate on an opening service break, Del Potro fabricated double break by forcing a backhand error from Verdasco. With the latter making another miscue, Del Potro went ahead 2-1. This time, with an ace at 40-0, Del Potro solidified his lead.

With Verdasco burying a backhand into the net, Del Potro again had double break point. Then, as Verdasco’s forehand flew long, Del Potro broke a third time for a 4-1 lead. By easily guarding serve his next two service games, Del Potro bedded the first set.

In the second set, Del Potro’s persistent power proved too much for Verdasco. Thus, as Verdasco’s forehand crosscourt went wide, Del Potro manufactured double break point. Del Potro burned Verdasco with a forehand crosscourt pass winner to break the initial game of the second set.

Once more with a comfortable hold, Del Potro moved in front 2-0. The Argentine consistency on serve meant that Verdasco had no break point opportunity.

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