Djokovic meets Berdych in last 8
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NOVAK Djokovic rolled his eyes after a backhand found the net, shrugged after an early barrage of errors and even heard the crowd at times pulling for his opponent.
None of it wound up mattering. Even when not at his sharpest, Djokovic is nearly impossible to beat.
Looking for his fifth title in Key Biscayne in six years, the world’s top player reached the Miami Open quarterfinals on Tuesday with a 6-3, 6-4 win over 14th-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria.
Djokovic will meet seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych — who ground out a three-set win over 10th-seeded Richard Gasquet of France — next.
“It was far from easy,” said Djokovic, who survived nine double-faults. “I struggled a lot.”
Djokovic moved to 25-1 on the year, 27-1 in his past 28 matches in Key Biscayne. The Serb also moved a step closer to becoming the tournament’s first back-to-back-to-back winner since Andre Agassi in 2001, 2002 and 2003. He fended off 14 of the 15 break points he faced and hasn’t dropped a set so far in the tournament.
“That’s a positive, in a way,” Djokovic said of his success on break points. “I try not to get myself in those positions too much.”
Berdych needed nearly 2 1/2 hours to win 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, with the temperature reaching the mid-80s and the humidity making it seem much warmer on the court. And now Djokovic awaits him.
Gilles Simon is also headed to the men’s quarterfinals, rolling past fellow Frenchman Lucas Pouille 6-0, 6-1. No. 6 seed Kei Nishikori of Japan, No. 12 seed Milos Raonic of Canada, No. 15 David Goffin of Belgium, No. 16 Gael Monfils of France and No. 24 Nick Kyrgios of Australia completed the last-8 line-up.
Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky, who has been the comeback queen in Key Biscayne, reached the women’s semifinals after another three-set marathon. The 19th-seeded Bacsinszky rallied to top fifth-seeded Simona Halep of Romania 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.
“It’s something amazing,” Bacsinszky said. “I’m really happy today.”
It was the second straight win against a top-five seed for Bacsinszky. She ousted third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska in the round of 16, also in three sets.
Svetlana Kuznetsova will meet Bacsinszky in the semifinals. Kuznetsova, the No. 15 seed who ousted top-ranked Serena Williams earlier, beat 30th-seeded Ekaterina Makarova in an all-Russian quarterfinal that ended at 12:38am to move into the women’s final four. Kuznetsova dropped the first set in a tiebreaker before taking the next two 6-4, 6-3, the match lasting 2 hours, 44 minutes.
With Halep out, the only top-10 seed left in the women’s draw is No. 2 Angelique Kerber of Germany. She plays Madison Keys of the US in the quarterfinals.
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