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 Officials announced a suspicious package had been left near the
main entrance to the sprawling tennis facility which was quickly
locked down, keeping thousands of spectators from entering or
leaving while Miami Dade police investigated.
The all clear was given just before Nadal stepped onto the Crandon
Park center court to face Fognini in the final match of the night.
The Spaniard showed no signs of being alarmed by the bomb scare as
he completed the win in 62 minutes.
"Every day I have to try to find my rhythm, try to think about
myself, what I have to do well, so I just try to be focused on what
I really need to do to play well," said Nadal.
"Then the opponent is free to do whatever. Tonight was not an easy
match for him, for the conditions that I told you before. So it was
a little bit strange, but in general, I think I was very focused and
solid with my serve."
Nadal's next opponent is Canadian Milos Raonic, who beat Benjamin
Becker 6-3 6-4.
"He's a very dangerous opponent," added the Spaniard.
"His serve is huge, one of the best without any doubt, and he's able
to play very aggressive on the return because he doesn't feel a lot
of pressure on his return because he knows that he's very safe with
his serve."
Nadal's great rival Federer was also in cruise control, needing just
49 minutes to dismiss ninth seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-1
6-2.
"Look, things went well out on the court today," said the Swiss
17-times grand slam winner. "You just take what you get and you run
with it.
"I think I played well. I served well. I made my returns I had to
and stayed aggressive, so I didn't let him just make errors.
"I forced him to do stuff. It was a good match for me."
Defending champion Murray, playing his first event since splitting
with coach Ivan Lendl last week, has looked increasingly comfortable
and confident on his own.
He disposed of 11th-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4 6-1
without facing a single break point.
Djokovic, a three-time winner on the Miami hardcourts, had only two
break points the entire match but that was all the second seeded
Serb needed, converting both chances on his way to a 6-3 7-5 win
over Spaniard Tommy Robredo.
Not everything at Crandon Park tennis center went according to
script, however, as Japan's Kei Nishikori and Ukraine's Alexandr
Dolgopolov pulled off a pair of fourth-round upsets.
Dolgopolov battled to a 6-4 3-6 6-1 win over Swiss third seed and
Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka, while Nishikori shocked
fourth seeded Spaniard David Ferrer 7-6(7) 2-6 7-6(9).
[to top of second column] |
GLOOMY START
In other fourth-round action, big-hitting Canadian Raonic blasted
German lucky loser Becker 6-3 6-4, while another big-hitter,
towering American John Isner, was beaten 6-3 7-5 by Czech seventh
seed Tomas Berdych. While the day got off to a gloomy start with early morning
showers delaying play by 30 minutes, tennis fans were treated to a
lineup of sparkling action with nine of the world's top 10 men
battling for spots in the quarters.
Djokovic, riding the momentum from his Masters Series win in Indian
Wells nine days ago, was first through to the last eight and was
soon followed by Murray, setting up rematch of last year's Wimbledon
final won by the Briton.
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.
"Very solid win," said Djokovic. "I just was telling myself to stay
mentally tough out there and composed and not get carried away by
few points.
"I have done well. I have served well. I made him play an extra shot
in important moments and that's why I'm satisfied with the overall
match today."
Murray, fighting for form after undergoing off-season back surgery
and going solo after ending his successful partnership with Lendl,
finally seemed to put some of the distractions behind him, although
he requested pain relief tablets for his back during the first set.
"We played each other a lot obviously," said Murray looking ahead to
Wednesday's quarter-final. "We have played each other here three
times, I don't know, maybe four times.
"You know, the conditions can change a lot here. Obviously it can be
extremely windy or very hot and humid.
"Ultimately whoever deals with those things better on the day and
whoever plays better will win.
"Whether I beat him the last time or he beat me the last three or
four times, I don't think it matters too much."
(Editing by Frank Pingue and Peter Rutherford)
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