Farewell to Federer
Star to skip clay-court season after Miami loss.
KEY BISCAYNE — Roger Federer lost his second consecutive match and the No. 1 ranking Saturday.
Big-serving Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis, a qualifier ranked 175th, rallied to upset Federer 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
The 36-year-old Federer had been the oldest No. 1 man ever, but he’ll lose that spot to Rafael Nadal when the new rankings come out April 2.
“I deserve it after this match,” he said. “That’s how I feel.”
Kokkinakis, facing Federer for the first time, became the lowestranked man to beat a No. 1 player since No. 178 Francisco Clavet upset Lleyton Hewitt in 2003. That match was also at Key Biscayne.
The 21-year-old Australian has long been regarded as a promising talent thanks to a thunderous serve and forehand, but he has been plagued by injuries.
Federer now has a losing streak after a career-best 17-0 start to the year. The match was his first since he lost to Juan Martin del Potro in the Indian Wells final Sunday, a match that also came down to a winner-take-all tiebreaker.
Federer’s defeat left both No. 1 players out of the tournament. Simona Halep was eliminated hours earlier in the third round by Agnieszka Radwanska 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Federer won't be playing to reclaim the No. 1 spot anytime soon. He said he'll skip the upcoming clay season for the second year in a row, including the French Open.
In other men’s play, American Frances Tiafoe broke serve only once — after he was two points from defeat — and that was enough to rally past No. 21-seeded Kyle Edmund 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (5). No. 4 Alexander Zverev edged Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (5).
Federer’s match turned when he played a poor service game and lost it at love to fall behind 3-1 in the second set. Kokkinakis never broke again but held the rest of the way, consistently topping 125 mph with his serve.
On match point, Federer buried a backhand return in the bottom of the net. Kokkinakis screamed in celebration, waved his index finger and gestured for more noise from the appreciative capacity crowd.
The match was the last at Key Biscayne for Federer, a three-time champion. The event is moving next year to Hard Rock Stadium.
Nadal will become the new No. 1 even though he missed Key Biscayne because of a hip injury that also forced him to skip Indian Wells.
Halep falls
Top-ranked Simona Halep lost her third-round match Saturday at the Miami Open to Agnieszka Radwanska 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
The pairing was an especially tough one for Halep, who fell to 19-3 this year. Radwanska won the tournament in 2012, is ranked 32nd and improved to 6-5 against Halep.
In men’s play, American Frances Tiafoe broke serve only once — after he was two points from defeat — and that was enough to rally past No. 21-seeded Kyle Edmund 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (5).
No. 4 Alexander Zverev edged Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (5).
Wozniacki complains of verbal abuse
Reigning Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki says she and her family were targets of verbal abuse and threats from the crowd during her opening match at the Miami Open, which she lost to Monica Puig.
In a statement Saturday posted on Twitter, Wozniacki said the tournament did nothing to prevent the abuse. Tournament director James Blake responded that while the crowd was “loud and passionate,” Miami Open staff, WTA Tour officials and courtside security were unaware during the match of any threats made.
Wozniacki lost 0-6, 6-4, 6-4 Friday night.
“I lost a tough match to a great opponent and friend Monica Puig,” Wozniacki said in her statement. “I am fully aware that tennis is a game of wins and losses. However, during the match last night people in the crowd threatened my family, wished death threats on my mom and dad, called me names that I can’t repeat here and told my fiance’s niece and nephew (who are 10 years old) to sit down and shut up, meanwhile security and staff did nothing to prevent this and even accepted this to take place.”
Puig is from Puerto Rico and especially popular in South Florida, while Wozniacki is from Denmark.
Wozniacki complained to the chair umpire during the match about crowd noise, but Blake said the tournament was unaware of any threatening comments.
“We had tournament and WTA staff as well as tournament security courtside,” Blake said. “They never witnessed nor were they notified of any specific threats made to the players or their families. If we had been notified, the situation would have been handled immediately.”
Wozniacki became a first-time Grand Slam champion at the Australian Open in January. She said she hopes the Miami Open takes her complaints about the crowd behavior seriously.
“It’s a horrible example to set for the next generation of tennis players and fans,” she said.