Roger Federer will continue his Miami campaign and try to maintain his hot streak when he faces Tomas Berdych during quarterfinal action on Thursday. Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev are also one step away from the semis.
(4) Roger Federer vs. (10) Tomas Berdych
Federer and Berdych will be squaring off for the 24th time in their careers when they battle for a place in the Miami Open semifinals on Thursday. The head-to-head series stands at 17-6 in favor of Federer, who has won six in a row at Berdych’s expense since losing two straight to the Czech in 2012 (U.S. Open) and 2013 (Dubai). The 35-year-old Swiss has also taken 14 sets in succession against Berdych while needing a tiebreaker in only one of those 14. They most recently collided at the Australian Open two months ago, when Federer cruised through a third-round affair 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.
Based on how well Federer is playing right now, there is no reason to think the tide will suddenly turn. The 18-time Grand Slam champion triumphed Down Under and also captured the Indian Wells title. He is an amazing 16-1 this season following straight-set victories in Miami over Frances Tiafoe, Juan Martin Del Potro, and Roberto Bautista Agut. Berdych, on the other hand, needed a strong result this fortnight in the worst way. The 31-year-old had been just 10-5 in 2017 with no final appearances and he has plunged to No. 14 in the world. He arguably hit a low point in Indian Wells, where he squandered a 6-1, 6-2 advantage against Yoshihito Nishioka in the third round and lost in three sets. So far in Miami, however, Berdych has advanced with straight-set defeats of Andrey Rublev, Gilles Muller, and Adrian Mannarino. A steep step up in competition should prove to be the 10th seed’s ouster.
Pick: Federer in 2 with no tiebreakers
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(16) Alexander Zverev vs. (12) Nick Kyrgios
Kyrgios and Zverev will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers and for the second time in as many tournaments when they meet again on Thursday. The two friends and occasional doubles partners just faced each other in Indian Wells, where Kyrgios cruised through a a third-round showdown 6-3, 6-4. The 16th-ranked Australian still has not lost since then, as his Indian Wells exit came via a quarterfinal walkover that he gave Federer because of illness. Kyrgios is 13-3 this season and 6-0 in his last six matches following Miami wins over Damir Dzumhur (6-4, 6-3), Ivo Karlovic (in a third-set tiebreaker), and David Goffin (7-6(5), 6-3).
Two years Kyrgios’ junior at 19, Zverev is not far behind at No. 20 in the rankings. The German has already captured one title in 2017 on the indoor hard courts of Montpellier and following a relative three-tournament slump he is back on track this fortnight with victories at the expense of Yen-Hsun Lu, John Isner, and No. 1 seed Stan Wawrinka. Zverev saved three match points to outlast Isner 6-7(5), 7-6(7), 7-6(5) and returned to the court one day later for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 upset of Wawrinka. This will undoubtedly be more competitive than what transpired in the California desert, but Kyrgios’ serve and baseline ball-striking at the moment are such that it is almost impossible to bet against him with anyone other than Federer on the other side of the net.
Pick: Kyrgios in 3
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Kyrgios. Just.
I. Am. A. Fan.
I actually saw him hitting one during the practice session too.He loves it.
Will see these two playing at the big stages a lot in the future. That’s for sure.
Yup. Said same yesterday.
But I’m not trying to take credit for saying it first lol.
Perfect tennis minds think alike.
#Humb1e
Just remembered that Fed had also had a walkover in IW. haha. Don’t think he’ll tired as such.
Dear Hawkeye, I am massively busy these days to launch my GAME in two weeks, hopefully. I couldn’t visit this website on regular basis, but it seems you are taking my comment about Federer remaining undefeated on remaining hard court matches he plays in its literal meaning. Dear When I mentioned Federer remaining undefeated, it didn’t mean that he would win every single match. It was a general gesture that he would dominate the hard court events. Just like when I thought in 2010 that Rafa would dominate the entire clay events. I did not think you would take it in its literal meaning. What I personally think Federer would win Cincinnati, Shanghai, US Open and WTF –if not all hard court events–. But if wins all the mentioned events, it would be nothing less than a complete domination on hard court….Although I think Federer could also grab slow Miami this year.
By the way, I like your funny commentary.
Aww Asif. You make My head get too fat.
So when you asked if Fed could possibly go undefeated in 2017 on hard court, you hadn’t forgotten he’d already lost but instead you were “only joking.”
Apparently you have that in common with Rafa! ?
You can not be serious..Lol…It was logical I was mentioning the domination on remaining hard court tournaments Feder would enter. But, your Hawk eye included the previous defeat that has nothing to do with remaining hard court events I meant to say.
Uh-huh.
Makes peRFect sense now.
#AsifItNeverHappened
Kyrgios with net +9 aces (9A-0DF); Zverev with net -3 (1A -4 DF). That’s half a set worth of games right there. Hard to overcome for Sascha.
What a horrible time violation call.
Damn. Zverev fends off a bunch of MPs to take the second set. Didn’t see that coming. If the kid can improve his serve he is going to be a monster.
I really enjoying watching these two young guys go at it. Good stuff! I am particularly impressed with Zverev’s mental toughness and how he hung in there in the second set to ultimately prevail.
Oh and btw, when Kyrgios was called for that time violation, he blurted to the umpire – you should give one to Rafa! It was a bad call, but I don’ t like Kyrgios bringing Rafa into it. Rafa has had more than his share of bad TV calls.
Yes, poor form to bring Rafa into it. But I think tennis needs a shot clock (not sure what it should be with the modern game). It would really improve things, imo, in the same way that Hawkeye (!)improved the game.
He had a point.
But Murray and Djoko are more guilty than Rafa these days.
Rafa has actually improved significantly in this regard.
As Cahill just said after Sascha’s bathroom break, tennis has the most inconsistent rules in sport.
No Kyrgios didn’t have a point. Rafa is not the issue here and certainly is not the worst offender. The point is that Rafa gets called for it. And what’s more, Nik knows it!
Yeah he did have a point. Rules are more lax for the big four.
Unbelievable TB! Such a treat to watch these two play!
Guess, this is a punishment to Nick for dragging Rafa into his time violation argument…will he ever learn first to respect other players…
Hawkeye, by the way did you see that today Nadal missed to championship points at 6-4 in Federer vs Berdych match. Can you decode what I mean? Or do you think I am being illogical here considering there was no Rafa today in that match; I mean I am afraid you would take this thing again in its literal meaning.
Correction: Hawkeye, by the way did you see that today Nadal missed TWO championship points at 6-4 in TIEBREAK in Federer vs Berdych match.
Methinks thou doth protest too much.
No, really, Asif, it’s ok. I believe you. Others mightn’t but I do. I really really do.
?
Don’t know if one of them still have the energy to spar with Rog in semis…and i mean not only physically but mentally as well..This match sure drained them…
MA,
But they have youth on their side. I remember some thinking that Zverev might not be able to take on Stan after that tough three setter with Isner.
I mean, they could hit a wall after this match. These young guys don’t have the fitness of the big four.
Nny….Hehehe..Yeah,u could be right ma’am…but Stan is not Rog and Rog is no Stan…Honestly,i think Rog will go to the final once again..as impressive as Nick is atm..Rog has the advantage this time…and if i’m wrong,i will treat u to a virtual dinner for a month Nny!Wooohoo!!How’s that?
MA,
Oh you don’t have to treat me to dinner! It’s just between friends!
I think it should be a good match with Fed and Kyrgios. Fed has the experience and the confidence of playing well. Nik has the explosive game, great serve and attitude!
Nny…Virtual dinner of my version is a pictures of Pizza,or Seafood[lobster,shrimp,fish etc etc],or spagetti..hahahaha…it’s no trouble ma’am!
Yeah,it should be a good match but i still don’t have a good feeling regarding Nick..he seems have a knee issue and he maybe fatigue…but,let’s see how’s thing goes when the time come k?
I saw Nick mouth to his coach at the changeover that something hurt. It looked like he might be saying “hip”, but who knows…
Yeah it’s his knee.
Damn. please don’t withdraw again, Nick…
Well, unless he has an epic fail, looks like we’re getting Fed/Kyrgios!
Damn, Zverev is piiiiiissed…
Like Sanju said above, I wouldn’t be surprised if Nick were to withdraw once again from a Fed match… He is definitely clutching at his knee and saying repeatedly that something hurts. It’s actually pretty crazy that he was able to come through this match. If he can just keep up the consistency and try to work on his fitness, he will be so much better off!
Yeah they were debating during the match who of the two to pick for having the better future.
Gilbert picked Kyrgios for bigger potential despite the risk.
But with two years younger, I think Sascha has both greater potential AND lower risk.
Nick to me doesn’t have the ideal body shape to avoid injury and could also walk away from the game prematurely.
But I’m a bigger fan of Kyrgios despite liking them both.
They might give us reason to watch after the big four are gone. Need a few more young guys to show up.
We’ve been spoiled for a long time.
Its pretty clear what happened. Kyrgios knows it was the wrong call for him to challenge, and feels bad he won it like that. His anger obviously directed towards the limesman, for not calling it, thus the situation would not appear. He wanted to win this fair and square. Typical Nick. Hope he gets over it.
he said so in his presser
I was hoping nick would win because he will give #GOAT2.0 a better match.
Hope his knee is ok.
Just don’t let Rog buy you any of those funky fruit smoothies before the match.
I was right that this second meeting would be better than the last. It had everything and was THE popcorn match of Miami. Two rising stars.
Oh how COULD I forget…. CONGRATS TO MEEEEE!
#HawkstradamusRising
Fed in 2 tomorrow…I think kyrgios may withdraw…
I truly hope that Kyrgios doesn’t withdraw because of the knee. That would be a real disappointment. Back-to-back tournaments? I sure hope not!
I heard the discussion on ESPN during the Kyrgios/Zverev match as to who to take for the better career. I would take Zverev. I think he has all the shots and just needs to bulk up a little bit with more muscle. From what they said, Zverev has a great team working with him. I think he has enormous potential. I really like how he stays in the fight and doesn’t quit when he’s behind or the going gets tough. I do think there is less risk with Zverev.
Kyrgios has shown me something in his recent matches. He is unbelievably talented. When he focuses on his tennis and just goes out there and plays, you realize that he’s got all the weapons. He does seem that be injury prone, so I think there is more risk with him. I also think his unpredictability and attitude could give him problems in his career. I wonder if he will even stick with tennis. You just don’t know with him.
For now I am just enjoying watching Kyrgios play the way he is capable of playing.
It would be a real shame if Kyrgios were to withdraw. I don’t think he will -not two tournaments in a row against the same guy. Even with the knee, he gives Roger a tougher matchup. Zverev, for a dude who is 6’6, just doesn’t have a good enough serve yet. A lot will come down to Roger’s serve and, especially, ROS. If Nick plays another match in which he doesn’t have to face a break point, he will be advancing to the final.