Federer and Nadal survive stern tests, Wawrinka out

KEY BISCAYNE: For Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, it was a happy anniversary.

For Stan Wawrinka, it was not a happy birthday.

Federer and Nadal — playing back-toback on stadium court on the 13th anniversary of their very first match — both advanced on Tuesday to the quarter-finals of the Miami Open, surviving strong tests in both cases.

Wawrinka wasn’t as fortunate, the No.1 seed getting bounced on his 32nd birthday by teenager Alexander Zverev.

“Every match is going to be tough from now on,” said second-seeded Kei Nishikori, who also survived a three-setter to reach the quarters. That seems to already be holding true. The fourth-seeded Federer outlasted No. 14 Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4), the fifth-seeded Nadal got past Nicolas Marut 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), and Nishikori — a finalist at Key Biscayne a year ago — rallied from a break down in the final set to beat Federico Delbonis 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.

Zverev, who turns 20 next month, downed Wawrinka 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, and showed no ill effects by playing just 24 hours after winning a three-setter over John Isner that went entirely to tie-breaks.

“I played well in the second and third,” Zverev said. “I turned it around a little bit. I had to be aggressive.”

“I had no more gas in the second and third sets,” said Wawrinka, who smiled when a surprise birthday cake was brought into his post-match news conference.

Nadal was an up-and-coming 17-year-old when he faced Federer at what was then called the Nasdaq-100 Open in 2004, and surprised many with a straight-set win that day.

More than a decade later, they’re still rolling.

Federer will meet 10thseeded Tomas Berdych today in the quarters. Berdych advanced with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Adrian Mannarino.

Nishikori will next face unseeded Fabio Fognini of Italy, who beat Donald Young 6-0, 6-4.

Karolina Pliskova reached the women’s semi-finals with a 6-3, 6-4 win over 26thseeded Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. It’s the first time Pliskova has made the semi-finals at Key Biscayne.

Pliskova will next face 12th-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, a 6-4, 6-3 winner over unseeded Lucie Safarova.