Murray to meet Djokovic in Miami quarter-finals
Originally published on 26/03/14
The world No.6 dropped just six points on serve as he claimed a 6-4 6-1 victory to book his first meeting with Novak Djokovic since last year’s Wimbledon final.
Murray, who is the defending champion at Crandon Park, received treatment in the first set for a lower back injury, but it did not appear to impede him as he wrapped up victory in 74 minutes.
"This is where I have built most of my professional career from, so it makes a big difference coming back here,” Murray said. “Mentally, I always feel pretty good here."
Meanwhile Djokovic, a three-time champion in Miami, booked his place in the last eight with a 6-3 7-5 victory over Tommy Robredo.
Roger Federer will face Kei Nishikori in the quarter-finals after the Swiss raced past Richard Gasquet 6-1 6-2 in just 49 minutes. Nishikori had a tougher time of it, saving four match points as he fended off David Ferrer 7-6(7) 2-6 7-6(9) in a match lasting three hours and six minutes.
"He had obviously a very difficult match with Ferrer, but a great one which everybody watched in the locker room and the player restaurant," Federer said. "Kei did a good job getting it done at the end. Clearly I think it's an advantage at this point now that I had a quick match today and he had a really brutal match against Ferrer. Can I take advantage of it? Can he recover quickly? We will see.”
Rafael Nadal was the last of the big four to make it into the quarter-finals as he powered past Fabio Fognini 6-2 6-2 during the evening session. The world No.1 will meet Milos Raonic after the Canadian claimed his 100th win on hard courts to defeat lucky loser Benjamin Becker 6-3 6-4.
Alexandr Dolgopolov continued his impressive form as he knocked out world No.3 Stanislas Wawrink 6-4 3-6 6-1. Dolgopolov, who beat Nadal and Raonic before falling to Federer in Indian Wells, will have the chance to claim his third victory over a Top 10 player this month when he takes on Tomas Berdych – a 6-3 7-5 winner against John Isner.
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