Novak Djokovic on Friday put his Indian Wells disappointment behind him at the Miami Open with a ruthless 7-6 (7/2), 6-2 destruction of Australian Bernard Tomic to move into the third round.
The Serbian world No. 1 endured a meek exit at the hands of German Philipp Kohlschreiber in the California desert, but arrived desperate to land what would be a record seventh title in Florida.
World No. 81 Tomic gave the 31-year-old a few problems, but the Australian struggles to consistently challenge the best players and this was evident once again as Djokovic eased through the gears with just 1 hour, 13 minutes on the clock.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“In Indian Wells I wasn’t feeling my best,” said Djokovic, who won 81 percent of points on his first serve and hit 11 aces. “Everyone has nerves coming onto center court regardless of how much experience you have and what your ranking is. You care about it and if you are nervous that means you care.”
“I commonly feel like that. This was my first time playing at this new stadium, it felt like being indoor a little bit. It’s unique.” he added.
On a day that saw Djokovic, top-ranked woman Naomi Osaka and 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams advance, the shock of the day was the departure of Indian Wells Masters winner Dominic Thiem, who was beaten 6-4, 6-4 by Polish 22-year-old Hubert Hurkacz.
Elsewhere, there was disappointment for Kei Nishikori. The fifth seed lost to Serbian Dusan Lajovic 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, but reigning champion John Isner outlasted Italian qualifier Lorenzo Sonego 7-6 (7/2), 7-6, (9/7).
Osaka opened her campaign by outlasting Yanina Wickmayer 6-0, 6-7 (3/7), 6-1.
Since winning her second consecutive Grand Slam title in January at the Australian Open, Osaka has failed to go deep in Dubai or Indian Wells.
However, she appeared in solid form against world No. 141 Wickmayer, despite losing her way in the middle of an entertaining match.
The 21-year-old was forced to dig deep after the Belgian, who reached the Miami Open last eight in 2010, forced a third set as Osaka’s game badly dipped.
“In the second set, I got really emotional, so in the third, I just tried to shut off my feelings,” Osaka said. “I started thinking about winning and not the things I could do in order to win. I had a dip and she started playing really well.”
“I just had to breathe and regroup,” she said. “I find myself doing it often when I am in emotional situations, it’s like an energy saver.”
Next up in the third round is Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei, who defeated American Alison Riske 6-2, 7-5.
The pair had a roller-coaster clash in the Australian Open with Hsieh a set and 4-1 up in Melbourne, only to lose a dramatic third-round encounter.
Serena Williams survived a second-set lull to beat Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson 6-3, 1-6, 6-1, and Venus also advanced with a 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 win over Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro.
There is also to be a repeat of last week’s WTA final in Indian Wells between Bianca Andreescu and Angelique Kerber.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
Crowds descended on the home of 17-year-old Chinese diver Quan Hongchan after she won two golds at the Paris Olympics while gymnast Zhang Boheng hid in a Beijing airport toilet to escape overzealous throngs of fans. They are just two recent examples of what state media are calling “toxic fandom” and Chinese authorities have vowed to crack down on it. Some of the adulation toward China’s sports stars has been more sinister — fans obsessing over athletes’ personal lives, cyberbullying opponents or slamming supposedly crooked judges. Experts say it mirrors the kind of behavior once reserved for entertainment celebrities before
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
RSS