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Raonic Up And Running In Miami

  • Posted: Mar 24, 2017

Raonic Up And Running In Miami

The Canadian faces either Mischa Zverev or Jared Donaldson in the third round

Milos Raonic is the first player to move into the Miami Open presented by Itau third round courtesy of a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Viktor Troicki on Friday.

The third seed has returned to the ATP World Tour having been sidelined by a right hamstring tear, which forced him to concede a walkover in the Delray Beach Open final (vs. Sock) last month, before withdrawing from Abierto Mexicano Telcel and the BNP Paribas Open.

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Back on court and the Canadian entered his match against Troicki, who has reached the fourth round in Miami twice, leading their FedEx ATP Head2Head 3-1.

Raonic clinched the opening set and looked on course for the win with a 3-1 second set lead. However, World No. 38 Troicki restored parity until 5-5 when Raonic’s pressure on return secured the deciding break. Raonic advances to play the winner of Mischa Zverev or #NextGenATP player Jared Donaldson.

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My Masters 1000: Dominic Thiem

  • Posted: Mar 24, 2017

My Masters 1000: Dominic Thiem

Austrian looks back on his Masters 1000 memories

Dominic Thiem has already reached four quarter-finals at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level, including last week at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. The 23-year-old Austrian talks about his favourite tournament, city and what makes the Masters 1000 titles so difficult to win.

Which is your favourite Masters 1000 tournament?
Madrid. I beat my first Top 10 guy there (Stan Wawrinka). The food is prepared by an Austrian company. I know the guys there. They treat me really well, so it’s a tournament I look forward to every year.

Which is your favourite Masters 1000 host city?
Rome is a legendary city and the Italian food is the best in the world.

What do you like about Miami, host city of this week’s Miami Open presented by Itau?
Miami is an unbelievable city; it’s always a highlight to come here with many things to do. It’s such a traditional tournament and it’s always a pleasure to come here.

Can you remember your Masters 1000 debut?
It was in Indian Wells in 2014. It’s a very nice memory. I qualified and won two rounds, so immediately I liked to play the Masters 1000s.

What has been your favourite off-court activity at a Masters 1000?
Last year in Miami I went to Jungle Island, which was very nice. There are many animals and we could carry them around and play with them.

What has been your best Masters 1000 win?
When I beat Stan in Madrid in 2014. That was my first win over a Top 10 guy and it is still probably one of my best wins.

What is the toughest part about Masters 1000 tournaments?
It’s unbelievably tough. As you saw in Indian Wells the draw was a joke. From the second round there were only blockbuster matches. You have to be on fire from the first round and you have to beat only good guys to win the tournament. That’s why so few players have won one.

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Miami Mix: Federer’s Hidden Talent

  • Posted: Mar 24, 2017

Miami Mix: Federer’s Hidden Talent

Swiss says, ‘It got complicated out there’

Roger Federer turned his skills to mixing music this week in Miami during a party for Moët & Chandon at Sugar, a rooftop bar 40 stories up at EAST, Miami hotel.  Federer teamed with renowned DJ Nora En Pure, who has a South African and Swiss heritage, like the 25-time ATP World Tour Masters 1000 champion.

Federer was also presented with a special bottle of Moët & Chandon champagne to mark his 90th tour-level title, achieved last weekend at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

“Moet Moments are always different and creative,” Federer said. “Tonight is with a really cool DJ in Miami. So why not? The location is stunning and I love music, so that makes it a very cool event.”

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Federer joked that he felt out of his comfort zone playing guest DJ. “I got nervous out there. It got complicated… a lot of buttons to be pressed and listening to the music blurred the rest of my brain. Anyway, it was great fun and we had a great time. I got a special bottle with No. 90 on it and I met a lot of cool and interesting people.”

On Saturday Federer will begin his quest for a third Miami Open title at Key Biscyane. Federer has enjoyed an outstanding start to 2017, winning his 18th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and his fifth title in Indian Wells.

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#NextGenATP Tiafoe Sets Up Federer Clash

  • Posted: Mar 24, 2017

#NextGenATP Tiafoe Sets Up Federer Clash

Zeballos, King advance on Thursday

#NextGenATP player Frances Tiafoe finished strongly in his opening round match on Thursday at the Miami Open presented by Itau, racing through the final set against Konstantin Kravchuk to advance 7-5, 5-7, 6-1 and set up a clash with fourth seed Roger Federer.

The American qualifier was unable to convert on two break points up 5-4 in the second set and the Russian eventually levelled the match, but Tiafoe bounced back by surging to a 5-0 lead in the decider. A strong forehand from Tiafoe on his first match point wrapped up the contest after just over two hours of play.

Tiafoe also defeated Kravchuk last week in the opening round of the ATP Challenger Tour event in Irving, Texas. His next match against Federer will mark the first time that the 19 year old has faced a player inside the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings.

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Horacio Zeballos set up a second-round clash with top seed Stan Wawrinka after outlasting Gastao Elias 6-7(2), 6-2, 7-5 in two hours and 36 minutes. Zeballos served to stay in the match at 4-5 in the final set before breaking in the next game. The Argentine improves his FedEx ATP Head2Head with Elias to 2-1.

Darian King also continued his push towards the Top 100 by prevailing in an all-qualifier battle over Lukas Lacko 7-6(2), 6-4. The Barbados native scored his first main draw win at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event just two weeks ago at the BNP Paribas Open. Next up for King is eighth seed David Goffin.

Other first-round winners on Thursday included Tommy Robredo, Andreas Seppi and Adrian Mannarino. 

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