Reuters
Miami, March 28: Five-time champion Novak Djokovic overcame a first-set spill to beat unseeded Joao Sousa of Portugal 6-4, 6-1 in the third round at the Miami Open here Sunday.
The World No.1 fell on his left side while hitting a forehand on the baseline and his shot went into the net to allow Sousa to pull even at 4-4.
But Djokovic was not injured and he dusted himself off and won eight out of the next nine games in a 77-minute match. The Serb is vying to match Andre Agassi’s tournament record of six wins in Key Biscayne.
“That first set came down to a few points,” said Djokovic after improving to 24-1 in 2016. “After that, it was quite a good performance. In the second set I felt much more comfortable. I was serving very well the entire day.”
Djokovic landed 86 per cent of first serves in the second set and dropped only three points on serve. He will meet Dominic Thiem in the next round after the Austrian defeated Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka 6-2, 6-2.
Argentine lucky loser Horacio Zeballos, who received a second chance when Roger Federer withdrew because of a stomach virus, continued to make the most of his good fortune. He rebounded to beat Spain’s Fernando Verdasco 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(7-4).
In another late evening match, Lucas Pouille of France stunned seventh seed David Ferrer 6-7 (1-7), 7-6 (7-4), 7-5. There was only one break of serve which the Frenchman got in the 11th game of the deciding set.
In women’s singles, second seed Angelique Kerber advanced to the fourth round of the Miami Open when Dutch qualifier Kiki Bertens was forced to retire in the third set. Kerber was leading 1-6, 6-2, 3-0 when Bertens threw in the white towel.
“I think Kiki’s a great player,” Australian Open champion Kerber said in her on-court interview. “She played very well in the first set and I was not finding my rhythm at the beginning. For me, it’s not so easy. But I’m trying to focus on my game, doing my stuff and not looking too much over the net.”
Up next for the German is unseeded Hungarian Timea Babos, who advanced with a 7-5, 6-0 win over Japanese wildcard Naomi Osaka.
Other third-round winners Sunday included American Madison Keys, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, and Briton Johanna Konta.
Keys, the 22nd seed, upset ninth seeded 2015 US Open finalist Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-4, 6-4 while Azarenka trounced Magda Linette 6-3, 6-0.
