Federer and Nadal advance, Wawrinka ousted at Miami Open
KEY BISCAYNE, Florida: 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-to-back on stadium court on the 13th anniversary of their very first match — both advanced Tuesday to the quarterfinals of the Miami Open, surviving strong tests in both cases.
Wawrinka was not 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 secondseeded 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 (5), 7-6 (4), the fifthseeded Nadal got past Nicolas Marut 6-4, 7-6 (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.
Federer is 16-1 this year, matching his career-best record at this point in a season.
“Is it the best I’ve ever played?” Federer said. “For me, it’s hard to say yes to that question. ... Maybe on the offensive side, overall, I think I’m doing definitely a few things better than I ever have. I do feel that I have improved. The game has evolved, I had to adjust, but overall I do believe I’m proba- bly a better player than I was 10 years ago.” 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 tiebreakers.
“I played well in the second and third,” Zverev said. “I turned it around a little bit. I had to be aggressive.”
Zverev won 26 of the 36 points played in the final set.
“I had no more gas in the second and third sets,” said Wawrinka, who smiled when a surprise birthday cake — replete with ‘Stan The Man’ lettering — was brought into his post-match news conference.
“But at the end of the day, you have to try with what you have that day, and today was not enough.”