World number one Rafa Nadal launched his bid for one of the few titles to elude him by crushing Australian Lleyton Hewitt 6-1 6-3 on Saturday to reach the third round of the Sony Open.
The Spaniard has won 62 titles, including 13 grand slams and 25 Masters series events, but a victory on the Miami hardcourts is not among them.
Three times Nadal has made it to the Miami final and the Spaniard served noticed that he plans to be back there again after disposing of Hewitt in just over an hour.
World number two Novak Djokovic, a three-time winner in Miami, did not play on Saturday but became the first player through to the fourth round when his opponent Florian Mayer pulled out with a groin injury.
Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka survived a rollercoaster start to his Sony Open campaign, advancing with a bumpy 6-0 3-6 6-3 win over Spain’s Daniel Gimeno-Traver.
Nadal was happy with his performance against Hewitt.
“I think I played a solid match without many mistakes,” he told reporters. “I tried all the time to play the logical shot.
“In general I have to be very happy. I think I did what I had to do today.”
Seventh seeded Czech Tomas Berdych joined Wawrinka in the third round by dispatching Frenchman Stephane Robert 7-6(5) 6-1 while big-hitting Croatian Marin Cilic, the 25th seed, was shown the exit by Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-2 7-6(5).
John Isner continued to carry the American flag, battling back for a 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4 win over compatriot Donald Young.
Isner was left the last American man standing after Canada’s big-hitting Milos Raonic, seeded 12th, dispatched Jack Sock 6-4 7-6(1) and Sam Querry was dismissed 6-4 6-4 by Nicolas Almagro.
Williams survives
In the women’s event, top seed Serena Williams survived a tough battle against France’s Caroline Garcia to eventually progress 6-4 4-6 6-4.
Williams came through a first-set tie-break against Yaroslava Shvedova in the previous round and was again not at her best, but came through in two and a half hours.
Williams will play Coco Vandeweghe, who upset 16th seed Sam Stosur 5-7 7-5 7-5 in a match which finished at almost 02.30 local time.
Fourth seed Maria Sharapova was also taken to three sets after losing a second-set tie-break, but eventually progressed 6-4 6-7 (7/9) 6-2 after opponent Lucie Safarova had saved six match points to add to two in the previous set.
Kirsten Flipkens was granted a direct pass through to face Sharapova after opponent Sabine Lisicki dropped out without taking to the court.