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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WWW?
Well Ricky,
How can Federer win in a Kyrgios vs Zverev match! ?
Haha! had to read it twice to make sure what I was reading. I’m guessing you’re going with Nick.
oops!
Depends on how Fed plays, if he plays like in his R4 match then Berdych will have his chances; otherwise Fed will win in straight sets.
I suspect Fed was tired after the Delpo match, but with a day’s rest he should be back to normal.
This one will be easy for Fed. Berdy is playing a bit better than in IW but nit enough to beat Maestro. Don’t think there will be a tiebreaker. Fed in 2
My favorite youngsters are playing each other. The sweet Zverev is on the run, I am so happy for him…Kyrgios is doing exactly what he was supposed to do given his talent and the easiness in executing some of his best tennis…either one of them winning is fine for me…I give slight edge to Nick though…
So I agree with Ricky. Nick in 3
I think this is a much easier match for Fed and he takes it in two. He was trying too hard today, and I think he’ll be back to normal with a day’s rest. Plus, he’s really had Berdych’s number lately.
I just do not see Fed losing to Berdych on any surface . Its just not possible given Fed’s amazing physical prowess this season
agreed
I think Roger wins here but it’s a tough call between Kyrgios and Zverev. Kyrgios beat him in IW last week but this is a new week and a new match. Zverev might take this one away from Kyrgios. In the meanwhile this is turning out to be another Roger v/ Rafa final. I say bring it on. Here is an interesting take on Roger, Rafa, Djokovic and Murray http://www.138mph.com/decoding-the-big-three-murray-part-ii/
Jeez Kavita, how many time are you gonna reference that article. I can’t bring myself to click on it. I’m afraid my pc could melt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hfTDuISM4U
bloody hell…
Fed in two with no breakers and Kyrgios in two
As far as Berdych goes, #GOAT2.0 is indeed invulnerable and unbeatable so Berdych should save himself the embarrassment and forfeit.
#GOAT2.0 in two routine sets including at least one bakery product.
Nick vs Sascha is THE popcorn match of the tournament. PERIOD! These two will invulnerably be meeting in slam finals before the end of 2018. PERIOD!
With that said, Nick for the win in three sets but tennis fans are the real winner in this one.
#PoliteFree
let’s hope it’s better than what we saw in Indian Wells
For sure. I think Sascha will have learnt from that first meeting loss and will make adjustments for a closer match.
But Nick has a two year advantage which is still big at that age which should be all he needs for the win in this one.
If Berdych has done it before, he can do it again, Hawks!!……I think….Maybe….Possibly….Potentially….One day………If Fed plays horribly……………………….Maybe.
“Hypothetically yes, technically no.”
Hope Sasha wins tomorrow, but think it will be Nick in 3
depends which Kyrgios shows up. For the most part it has been the good Kyrgios in Miami.
want Sasha to beat the “good Kyrgios” haha
for the sake of the match quality, that would be fun
I think Fed should get the win over Berdy in straight sets. He’s had his number for a while now.
Kyrgios/Zverev is the highlight match of the day. After seeing Kyrgios win over Goffin in convincing fashion, I give him the edge in this match. Goffin couldn’t touch Nik’s serve. We will see if Zverev can do better. Zverev has looked really good in Miami. Victories over Isner and Stan were impressive.
I am giving the edge to Kyrgios because of how focused he has been in his matches. Playing brilliant tennis without the drama. I expect a good match between these two, with Kyrgios getting the win in 3 sets.
Kyrgios/Zverev is tomorrow. But yes, it’s the highlight of the 4 quarterfinals.
#ByFar
Ricky
Yes, thanks for the correction! I guess that I am looking forward to this match so much that I wanted it to be a day earlier!
If you watched Goffin play absolutely perfect tennis and get beat 7-6 6-3 last night you should get a sense that Zverev will NOT be able to win this match unless Kyrgios has some serious mental lapses. Pointblank the kid is a future #1.
perfect? I would say good, not perfect.
Mr. Steve is by far the GOAT of tennis writing. Here he illustrates his inimitable tennis insights (a journo with a passion for both watching and playing the game) by observing how fast Sascha is improving and maturing and why Zvergios II The Sequel should prove more intriguing…
Tiggy writes:
“Two weeks ago in Indian Wells, Nick Kyrgios made Zverev look like the 19-year-old kid that he is. Against The Western Tennis Pox, Zverev played like the man, and the crowd-pleasing star, that he’s soon going to become.
Another part of growing up on tour is learning to win matches on back-to-back days. Thinking ahead to Zverev’s Tuesday meeting with Stan Wawrinka, I wondered if he would be ready to face the top seed 24 hours after facing down The Eastern Tennis Pox. But again, over the course of his 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win on the Grandstand, you could see Zverev mature a little more. He lost the first, but rather than get tired or down on himself, he relaxed; not many guys hit the ball as well as Zverev does, from both sides, when he’s relaxed and in the flow.
When there’s nothing standing in the way of a victory, it’s easy to overthink, relax too much or get nervous. Instead, Zverev showed how impervious his shots are to all of those potentially destabilizing psychological aspects of the sport.
The biggest reason to believe that Zverev is going to be a Top 5 (or higher) player is that he has weapons that are solid enough to withstand pressure. His serve and his backhand, in particular, are always there for him, and they helped him make finishing off the top-seeded CryBaby #WLB look easy.
When it was over, there was no need to wag his finger.”
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2017/03/alexander-zverev-stan-wawrinka-miami-open-atp-tennis/65068/
#GettinTiggyWidIt
“it’s easy to overthink, relax too much or get nervous. Instead, Zverev showed how impervious his shots are to all of those potentially destabilizing psychological aspects of the sport.”
AKA: “being polite” or “only joking”
The poster AT 4:36 PM has falsified the second to last paragraph in the article.
The poster AT 5:03 PM has falsified the reason that Rafa said he was dealing with anxiety issues negatively affecting his results in 2015.
The poster who has given Rafa an armchair diagnosis of mental illness, generated yet another fake story AT 7:31 PM !
Uncle Toni has explained several times that Rafa lacked confidence during 2015 due to injuries he suffered in 2014.
U.Toni in his interview with COP, a radio network in Spain, in Dec.2015: “Getting injured in the AO 2014 final was a big blow. When he recovered [therapies helped him temporarily], the wrist issue happened [July 2014] and then appendicitis [Oct-Nov. 2014] when he was trying to come back. All this caused him a huge stress and lack of confidence in his body [in the 2015 season]. He was going on court [in 2015] without knowing/trusting what his body would do.”
The poster who made up a story about Rafa’s admission of anxiety, generated yet another fake story AT 9:24 PM!
She has no proof of her claims about her made up excuses regarding Rafa’s statement of a serious issue or about her claims about me.
The explanation of Toni is irrelevant and not pertinent to her made up excuses nor made up stories about me.
Nothing new from this poster who has never had a single original opinion on tennis (Rafa included) but plenty of opinions about other posters.
I add to my post AT 9:35,
Her explanation of Toni is just a desperate and transparent diversionary tactic from her own made up fake stories.
Keep your mind focused, remain confident, be strong and show your warrior spirit, Nicky!
https://usatftw.files.wordpress.com/2015/09/ap_us_open_tennis_755372741.jpg?w=1000&h=600&crop=1
Augusta and Hawks-
You two have had this same exact argument so many times now that I’ve lost count! Could you at least come up with a different thing to fight about please?? 🙂
Kevin…Don’t worry much about Hawks and Augusta…They’re just fighting like a brothers @ sisters would…i bet,they love each other in their own way but too proud to admit it!Hehehawhaw!!
I’ll admit it!!!
Kisses and Huggies gussie!!!!
Love,
Hawky
#Avatar
Hawks..hahahahaha…Thank u for your sporting sportsmanship!But u should say ‘love u Augusta’ and not just ‘love’…
@ 10.29pm march 29
Kevin has a point
As always, I’m open to ideas. I’ve tried everything to no avail.
So if Fed was going to be vulnerable to Berdych again, I think today would be a good time for it. I really think Fed might be starting to get a little worn out. This is probably the first time that Fed has played this many matches over a three week period since 2015. The long time off was good in terms of freshness, but it also could mean that he could be relatively unprepared for playing this many matches in back to back tournaments. I also think that the Florida humidity takes more out of players than less-humid tournaments. I could be wrong and we could get a typical rout over Berdych. But if Berdych is really in good form, he could have a chance to push Fed if Fed is out of sorts. I still could never pick Berdych over Fed these days until I see him actually do it again. Let’s hope we at least have us a match!
Yeah, could very well happen. It’s a lot of tennis for him going deep in back to back tournaments.
Over a few hours in any given match, he hasn’t really shown his age at all and I laugh at everyone calling him an old man because for the most part he hasn’t shown it.
But cumulatively, I’d tend to agree that it may be wearing him out.
Regardless, I doubt he’d think it was a mistake to play Miami.
If it’s a close match because #GOAT2.0 is tired, it would be a very good match.
If he’s NOT tired, it won’t be very good either LOL.
Still, I’m taking #GOAT2.0 in two easy sets losing eight games or less.
#ForTheRecord
#ImFromMissouri
Early break for Fed; he looks pretty sharp. Tomas has to get his 1st serve pct. much higher to have any chance.