ATP Miami: David Ferrer stops the clock. Opelka, Krajinovic and Rublev win
Competing in Miami for the 17th and final time, the 36-year-old David Ferrer earned the 187th Masters 1000 win following a dominant 6-3 6-2 victory over Sam Querrey in an hour and 14 minutes, defeating the American for the third straight time. Serving at 74%, Ferrer dominated with the first serve and fended off six out of seven break points to keep the pressure on Sam who got broken four times to finish his run in the opening round. The veteran repelled three break points in the opening service game to avoid an early setback and broke Querrey in game two when the American netted a backhand.
That proved to be the crucial moment of the set and David held at love in the ninth game with a service winner to bring the opener home in 35 minutes. The Spaniard grabbed three straight breaks in set number two to jump into a 4-1 lead and sealed the deal with a forehand winner at 5-2 to book the place in the second round. A qualifier Reilly Opelka deserved the second Masters 1000 victory after a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Jan-Lennard Struff in an hour and 35 minutes. The young American won just one point more than the German, blasting 25 aces and losing serve once to wait for a chance on the return patiently, breaking Jan-Lennard once in sets two and three to advance into the last 64.
Both players had more winners than unforced errors and the encounter was decided in the seventh game of the final set when Opelka broke at 15 following a backhand error from Struff, serving for the win at 5-4. Struff earned a break point but failed to convert it when his forehand landed just long, allowing Reilly to wrap up the victory with an ace on the third match point. The 33-year-old Spaniard Pablo Andujar delivered the first Masters 1000 win since Montreal 2015, prevailing over Ivo Karlovic 7-6, 6-4 in an hour and 30 minutes.
Pablo saved the only break point he faced, taking the opening set 7-2 in the tie break and breaking Ivo in the third game of the second set to control the result until the end of the match and propel into the second round with a service winner at 5-4. A lucky loser Daniel Evans used the second chance with both hands, ousting Malek Jaziri 6-2, 6-0 in 73 minutes for only the second Masters 1000 triumph, losing serve once and leaving Jaziri far behind in the return games to grab six breaks and rattle off the last seven games to march into the second round.
Following a great result at Indian Wells, the young Serb Miomir Kecmanovic is off to a great start in Miami as well, toppling Ernests Gulbis 6-2, 7-5 in an hour and 31 minutes. Kecmanovic dropped just 12 points in ten service games and the Latvian couldn't follow that pace in his games, facing 15 break points and getting broken four times to finish his Miami journey in the opening round. Miomir had the upper hand in the shortest and mid-range exchanges, taking five games in a row in the opening set and crossing the finish line with a service winner at 6-5 in set number two after a tighter battle to set a thrilling second-round clash with another NextGen star Frances Tiafoe. Filip Krajinovic defeated Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4, 6-4 while a qualifier Andrey Rublev took down Taro Daniel in three sets for the sixth Masters 1000 victory.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2TmGvRP
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