CARLA ECLIPSES VENUS

Miami, April 1: Desperate Novak Djokovic fought back from a set and a break down to defeat Alexandr Dolgopolov 6- 7 ( 3/ 7), 7- 5, 6- 0 on Tuesday, salvaging hopes of defending his Miami Open title.

World no. 1 Djokovic won 24 of the last 27 points to reach a quarter- final against Spanish sixth seed David Ferrer, a 7- 6 ( 7/ 5), 6- 0 winner over Frenchman Gilles Simon at the ATP and WTA hardcourt tournament.

Ukraine challenger Dolgopolov was unable to stretch his lead to a double break in the second set, Djokovic saving two break points in the fourth game.

Venus Williams’ recent resurgence stalled when she lost in the quarterfinals to no. 12- seeded Carla Suarez Navarro 6- 0, 1- 6, 5- 7.

“Too many errors, and I was going for it the whole match. Towards the end, I just never found the happy medium between being aggressive and putting the ball in the court,” Williams said. Fresh from their maiden win in the Paribas Open title last month, Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Swiss partner Martina Hingis have entered the women’s doubles semi- finals of the Miami Open here.

The top- seeded IndoSwiss duo served past the Rodionova sisters, Anastasia and Arina, 6- 3 6- 4 in the quarter- final encounter.

The Sania- Hingis pairing has been much- talked about in the tennis circuit and the top seeds lived up to the hype by claiming their first title win in their maiden appearance together in Indian Wells in March.

Hingis has won 11 Grand Slams in the team discipline ( nine in women's and two in mixed) while Sania has claimed three Grand Slams ( all in mixed).

The duo will now meet the seventh- seeded Hungary- French combine of Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic in the last- four clash.