Novak Djokovic moved one step closer to a fourth Miami title after easing by Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-3 7-5 yesterday to become the first man through to the Sony Open quarter-finals.
It was just the second match of the tournament for Djokovic, who received an opening-round bye and advanced to the last 16 on a walkover when Florian Mayer withdrew with a groin injury, and sets up a mouth-watering quarter-final clash with defending champion Andy Murray.
The sixth seeded Scotsman, contesting his first event since splitting with coach Ivan Lendl last week, beat Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4 6-1.
Showers delayed the start of play by 30 minutes yesterday morning but Djokovic, a six-times grand slam winner, then went to work under a sunny South Florida sky and wasted no time claiming the only break of the opening set to go up 3-2 on way to a 1-0 lead.
Robredo and the world number two continued to slug it out in the second but it was the Serb once again recording the only break at 6-5 then holding serve to close out the match.
Late Monday, world number one Rafa Nadal continued his ruthless rampage through the Sony Open, crushing Uzbekistan’s Denis Isto-min 6-16-0 to reach the fourth round.
Also through to the next round is Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka, who looked sharp in a no-nonsense 7-5 6-4 win over Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
Nadal, who has reached the final three times but never lifted the Miami title, blew past Lleyton Hewitt in the second round before overwhelming Istomin in less than an hour in a centre court master class.
Next up for the Spaniard is a fourth round meeting with Italian 14th seed Fabio Fognini, who advanced with a 4-6 6-3 6-3 comeback win over Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut.
Further down the road is a possible semi-final meeting with third seed Wawrinka, who beat Nadal in the final of the Australian Open to claim his first grand slam title.
Nadal has shown no signs of losing focus, however, and broke Istomin twice to open the match and grab a 4-0 lead.
The 57th ranked Istomin finally held serve at 4-1 but that would be the only time as Nadal thundered through the next eight games to complete the rout.
“I played a very complete match,” said Nadal, who was given a warning for slow play.
“No match is perfect but I did a lot of things very well. No mistakes, serving with good percentage, and playing a lot of winners.”
Fourth round: (men) Djokovic bt Robredo 6-3 7-5; Nishikori bt Ferrer 7-6 2-6 7-6; Murray bt Tsonga 6-4 6-1.
Quarter-finals: (women) Sharapova bt Kvitova 7-5 6-1.