Federer loses match and his No.1 ranking
Halep out, Wozniacki upset by vulgar taunts
KEY BISCAYNE: Roger Federer lost his second consecutive match and the No.1 ranking on Saturday.
Big-serving Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis, a qualifier ranked 175th, rallied to upset Federer 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) at the Miami Masters. The 36-year-old Federer had been the oldest No.1 man ever, but he will lose that spot to Rafael Nadal when the new rankings come out on April 2.
“I deserve it after this match,” Federer said. “That’s how I feel.”
Kokkinakis became the lowest-ranked man to beat a No.1 player since No.178 Francisco Clavet upset Lleyton Hewitt in 2003. That upset was also at Key Biscayne.
“Pretty crazy,” said Kokkinakis, 21. “I’m pretty happy about it.”
Federer now has lost back-to-back matches for the first time since 2014, a dip that comes after a career-best 17-0 start to the year. He lost to Juan Martin Del Potro in the Indian Wells final last Sunday, a defeat that also came down to a winner-take-all tie-break.
The 6ft 5in Kokkinakis has long been regarded as a promising talent thanks to a thunderous serve and forehand, but has been plagued by injuries. The match was his first against Federer, although they’ve practised together.
“I’ve always liked his game,” Federer said. “I’m happy for him that on the big stage he was able to show it. It’s a big result for him in his career, and I hope it’s going to launch him.”
Federer’s defeat left both No.1 players out of the tournament. Simona Halep lost hours earlier to Agnieszka Radwanska 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Eight-time women’s champion Serena Williams and six-time winner Novak Djokovic were also eliminated in their opening matches.
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.
The walk to the exit was the last at Key Biscayne for Federer, a three-time champion. The event is moving next year to the Miami Dolphins’ 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.
Earlier, Halep fell to Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Radwanska, the 2012 Miami champion, next faces former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka, who rallied for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory over 20th-seeded Latvian Anastasija Sevastova.
Despite the defeat, Halep is assured of retaining the No.1 spot when the rankings are updated at the end of the tournament.
But her exit leaves the women’s field in the elite hardcourt tournament without its top two seeds after second-seeded Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki lost to Monica Puig on Friday night.
Wozniacki was smarting on Saturday, not from anything Puig offered on court but from what she said was threatening and vulgar behaviour by fans at the match.
In a Twitter post, the Danish star called on Miami Open organisers to act after fans threatened her parents and swore at the niece and nephew of her fiance, David Lee.
“During the match last night people in the crowd threatened my family, wished death upon 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 the f*** up,” she said in a Twitter post.
“Meanwhile security and staff did nothing to prevent this and even accepted this to take place,” Wozniacki added.
Tournament director James Blake said player security was the event’s “No.1 priority”.
“During the match, we had tournament and WTA staff, as well as tournament security courtside,” Blake said in a statement. “They never witnessed, nor were they notified of any specific threats made to the players or their families. If they had been notified, the situation would have been handled immediately.”
In other third-round action, reigning Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza crushed Christina McHale 6-2, 6-1 and US Open winner Sloane Stephens advanced when opponent Monica Niculescu retired in the third set with an injury.