Sports. Honestly. Since 2011

2019 Miami Open Day 5 Recap – Osaka, Cilic, Zverev out, Federer Struggles

ATP Second Round (Bottom half of the draw)

  • Serbian Filip Krajinovic managed to defeat Stan Wawrinka, preventing the Swiss from another matchup with Roger Federer. Stan was up a break in the third set, then 5-2 up in the final tie-break before finally succumbing 7-5, 2-6, 6-7(5).
  • David Ferrer, playing in one of his penultimate tournaments (the Spaniard will just play Barcelona and Madrid and is going to retire in May) pulled off a very memorable performance, coming back from a set down to shock the world No.3 Alexander Zverev. Ferrer struggles with his fitness and cannot really compete on a regular basis, but is still able to bring his best game to the table from time to time and he surely did today, upsetting the German 2-6 7-5 6-3. (Zverev made 47 unforced errors, including 12 double faults).

  • Karen Khachanov surprisingly lost to Australian Jordan Thompson 2-6, 3-6, once again toning down the hype that got built around him after his Paris Masters victory last season.
  • Roger Federer looked unexpectedly weak in the opening games of his match against Radu Albot. The Moldovan took the first set with a very solid performance but couldn’t replicate it later and lost 6-4, 5-7, 3-6. Federer had to save a break point at 3-3 in the last set and proceeded to break in the following game.

  • Marin Cilic’s slump is still very much on as the Croat got ousted by unseeded Andrey Rublev. The Russian took just 4 of 22! break points defeating his higher-ranked rival 6-4, 6-4.
  • Grigor Dimitrov absolutely demolished Feliciano Lopez in a highly-anticipated clash 6-1, 6-3.

  • A very bizzare match between the tallest ever tennis professional Reilly Opelka and one of the shortest players on tour Diego Schwartzman featured some drama as the American had a problem with a reflection (while serving) that his opponent couldn’t see because of being around forty centimetres shorter! Opelka fired just eight aces (he has been averaging 27 in 2019 thus far) but proved that maybe his game is a little less one-dimensional than we thought and won 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

  • Kevin Anderson had a rusty, yet successful comeback, defeating Jaume Munar in his first match since the Australian Open (elbow injury).

WTA Third Round (Top half of the draw)

“I was thinking too much, like everything was on my racquet. Honestly, she has the ability to make winners, too”

  • Elsewhere, the third seed Petra Kvitova had a very entertaining encounter with Donna Vekic, just coming out on top 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
  • Outside the courts, Serena Williams decided to withdraw prior to tomorrow’s meeting with Qiang Wang. The American cited a left knee injury.
  • Caroline Garcia showed another sign of being in great shape, after defeating Victoria Azarenka in round 2, she managed to stomp Julia Goerges 6-0, 7-5.
  • In a rematch of the Indian Wells final, Bianca Andreescu and Angelique Kerber picked up right where they left off. I was concerned with the Canadian’s fitness after so much match play this year (especially after she was on the brink of defeat 4-6, 1-5 against Begu in the first round) but once again she has proven me wrong. Andreescu, at one point, led 6-4, 4-1 and although Kerber managed to level by winning five straight games in a row, the Canadian was just too tough in the third claiming it six games to one. Counting all matches she’s played this season at any level, she already has over 30 wins and just 3 losses.

  • Caroline Wozniacki improved to a 10-0 lead in the head-to-head against the tricky Romanian Monica Niculescu
  • Ashleigh Barty pretty much blown her older compatrior Samantha Stosur off the court

Damian Kust

Damian Kust

Damian is a connoisseur of the lower tiers of men's tennis and would probably watch the World No. 700 play a ferret if he could see it from the stands. Always pleased by a beautiful one-handed backhand or classic volleying technique.

Share:

More Posts

Send Us A Message