Roger Federer's most impressive Miami wins
Twenty years after making a debut in Miami, Roger Federer is chasing the fourth crown at the second event of the Masters 1000 series and the first at the new venue at Hard Rock Stadium. Champion in 2005, 2006 and 2017, Roger has won 50 matches in Miami so far and we remember some memorable battles he had against Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal, Ivan Ljubicic, Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic over the years, staying competitive for two decades and scoring some impressive triumphs. In five out of those 50 wins, Federer claimed at least 62% of the overall points, firing from all cylinders and outplaying rivals on both serve and return to claim dominant triumphs and give his fans something to cheer about.
Following short Miami campaigns in 1999 and 2000, Roger was eager to show his best tennis in Florida in 2001, kicking off the action with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Younes El Aynaoui in 56 minutes, losing 13 points in eight service games and seizing every opportunity on the return to control the scoreboard all the time. El Aynaoui served at only 49% and that was never enough against the aggressive youngster who grabbed two breaks in each set to reach the third round, entering the last eight in Miami that season. A year later, Federer came to Miami as the top-15 star and went all the way until the title match where Andre Agassi toppled him in four sets.
In the quarter-final, Roger destroyed Andrei Pavel 6-1, 6-1 in 55 minutes, fending off the only break point he faced and taking more than half of the return points to claim 62% of the overall points and notch the most dominant Miami win in terms of the scoreline. Federer had to wait for nine years for another dominant win in Miami, taking down Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-3 in the second round in 2011, losing only ten points on serve and pushing the Czech to the limits on the second serve to break him three times and secure the win in 62 minutes.
Two rounds later, Roger sank his junior doubles partner Olivier Rochus 6-3, 6-1 in swift 53 minutes, unleashing fury from serve to hand only five points behind the initial shot and converting four out of 11 break chances in what could have been an even more one-sided encounter if he had earned an extra break or two. Fifteen years after making Miami debut, Roger was still capable of bringing an excellent performance in Florida, storming over Richard Gasquet to upend him 6-1, 6-2 in just 49 minutes, taking 52 out of 80 points overall and allowing the Frenchman to obtain only eight points on the return. Federer took more than half of the points in Richard's games, earning six break chances and seizing five to march towards the finish line after a drop shot winner in the eighth game of the second set.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2V2Dbgg
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