Miami Tennis 2012: Djokovic beats Murray for third Sony Ericsson Open title

04/01 Update: World #1 Novak Djokovic stamped his class by defending his Miami title with a straight set win over world #4 Andy Murray in the finals of the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open. He won his sixth straight set match with his 6-1, 7-6(4) victory over Murray to win the Miami tennis tournament without dropping a set - a feat he accomplished also in 2007. He now improves to 20-2 for the season and won his first tournament after the Australian Open in January. He improves to 8-5 against Murray, and also has a 11-7 finals record in ATP Masters 1000 finals. Since the beginning of the 2011 season, Djokovic has compiled an outstanding 89-8 match record. Djokovic extends his reign at the top of the world rankings and he will be spending his 40th week as #1 when the new rankings are released on Monday, April 2.

03/29 Update: Top ranked defending champion Novak Djokovic set-up his third meeting with #4 Andy Murray after both took contrasting paths to the Miami 2012 tennis tournament men's singles final. Djokovic eliminated #21 seed Juan Monaco in straight sets 60 76(5) while Murray registered a walkover after his semifinal opponent, world #2 Rafael Nadal withdrew due to a knee injury. Djokovic and Nadal split their two meetings this year with Djokovic winning the Australian Open semifinals in five sets and Murray beating Djokovic in straight sets at the Dubai semifinals. Both players also met two times previously at the Sony Ericsson Open, splitting their head-to-head career match-up in this tournament.

Miami 2012 Tennis ATP Results - Men's Singles - Semifinals, Friday, March 29, 2012

[4] A Murray (GBR) d [2] R Nadal (ESP) walkover (knee)
[1] N Djokovic (SRB) d [21] J Monaco (ARG) 60 76(5)

03/28 Update: Three of the top four seeds reached the semifinals of the Miami 2012 tennis tournament with world #1 Novak Djokovic leading the pack. Djokovic will be gunning for his second straight final appearance at the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open against the surprise semifinalist Juan Monaco of Argentina. Monaco advanced with a straight set 61 63 win over top American Mardy Fish. Monaco took Roger Federer's spot in the draw after he beat Andy Roddick, Federer's conqueror in the third round. The other semifinalists was determined on Wednesday when world #2 Rafael Nadal and #4 Andy Murray posted three set victories to advance.

Miami 2012 Tennis ATP Results - Men's Singles - Quarterfinals, Thursday, March 28, 2012

Men's Singles - Quarterfinals
[21] J Monaco (ARG) d [8] M Fish (USA) 61 63
[1] N Djokovic (SRB) d [5] D Ferrer (ESP) 62 76(1)

Men's Doubles - Semifinals
[2] M Mirnyi (BLR) / D Nestor (CAN) d [6] M Bhupathi (IND) / R Bopanna (IND) 62 64
[7] L Paes (IND) / R Stepanek (CZE) d [1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) 64 64

03/27 Update: After his Monday's shock defeat of #3 seed and tournament favorite Roger Federer, American #31 seed Andy Roddick lost steam and went out to #21 Juan Monaco, the lowest seed left in the draw in straight sets, losing 75 60. Meanwhile, the three other favorites all advanced to the quarterfinals. World #1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic advanced with a straight set win over Richard Gasquet 75 63. His projected final opponent, world #2 Rafael Nadal advanced by beating #16 seed Kei Nishikori 64 64. Andy Murray, looking to spoil a Djokovic - Nadal final advanced to the last eight with a 63 64 victory over #13 Gilles Simon. Other seeds reaching the quarterfinals included #6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, #8 American Mardy Fish, and #9 Janko Tipsaveric. The last quarterfinal slot will be decided with winner of the fourth match between #5 David Ferrer and #11 Juan Martin del Potro

Miami 2012 Tennis ATP Results - Men's Singles - Fourth Round, Tuesday, March 27, 2012

[1] N Djokovic (SRB) d [17] R Gasquet (FRA) 75 63
[2] R Nadal (ESP) d [16] K Nishikori (JPN) 64 64
[4] A Murray (GBR) d [13] G Simon (FRA) 63 64
[6] J Tsonga (FRA) d [19] F Mayer (GER) 63 62
[8] M Fish (USA) d [12] N Almagro (ESP) 63 67(2) 63
[9] J Tipsarevic (SRB) d G Dimitrov (BUL) 76(3) 62
[21] J Monaco (ARG) d [31] A Roddick (USA) 75 60

03/24 Update: World #1 Novak Djokovic stayed on collision course with red-hot world #3 Roger Federer as both title favorites started their Miami 2012 tennis tournament campaigns with straight set victories over unseeded opponents. Djokovic downed former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis 64 64 while Federer eliminated young American wildcard entry Ryan Harrison 62 76. Other top ten seeds advancing into the third round included #5 David Ferrer who downed Australian Bernard Tomic 64 64 and #8 Mardy Fish who was a 63 76(1) victor over Frank Dancevic of Canada. Five other top 20 seeds advanced including Juan Martin del Potro (#11), Nicolas Almagro (#12), Gael Monfils (#14), Richard Gasquet (#17) and Fernando Verdasco (#20). In doubles action, the top seeded pair of Bob and Mike Bryan advanced into the second round.

Miami 2012 Tennis ATP Results - Saturday, March 24, 2012

Men's Singles - Second Round
[1] N Djokovic (SRB) d M Baghdatis (CYP) 64 64
[3] R Federer (SUI) d [WC] R Harrison (USA) 62 76(3)
[5] D Ferrer (ESP) d B Tomic (AUS) 64 64
[8] M Fish (USA) d [Q] F Dancevic (CAN) 63 76(1)
[11] J Del Potro (ARG) d I Karlovic (CRO) 75 64
[12] N Almagro (ESP) d [Q] D Goffin (BEL) 64 62
[14] G Monfils (FRA) d [Q] S Bubka (UKR) 64 64
A Ramos (ESP) d [15] F Lopez (ESP) 64 76(5)
[17] R Gasquet (FRA) d C Stebe (GER) 63 67(6) 62
[20] F Verdasco (ESP) d [Q] B Phau (GER) 63 60
[21] J Monaco (ARG) d Y Lu (TPE) 50 Retired
[23] M Cilic (CRO) d I Kunitsyn (RUS) 63 76(1)
[27] V Troicki (SRB) d [Q] G Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 46 61 64
[28] K Anderson (RSA) d S Querrey (USA) 63 67(3) 63
[30] J Benneteau (FRA) d B Becker (GER) 36 63 76(4)
[31] A Roddick (USA) d G Muller (LUX) 63 62

Men's Doubles - Second Round
[3] M Llodra (FRA) / N Zimonjic (SRB) d K Anderson (RSA) / M Raonic (CAN) 21 Retired

Men's Doubles - First Round
[1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) d [WC] P Hanley (AUS) / B Tomic (AUS) 63 62
[2] M Mirnyi (BLR) / D Nestor (CAN) d E Butorac (USA) / B Soares (BRA) 63 76(4)
L Kubot (POL) / J Tipsarevic (SRB) d [5] M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) 63 62
[6] M Bhupathi (IND) / R Bopanna (IND) d J Melzer (AUT) / J Murray (GBR) 75 63
S Gonzalez (MEX) / S Lipsky (USA) d T Berdych (CZE) / L Dlouhy (CZE) 75 61

03/23 Update: The first day of seeded men's singles players in action started on Friday at the Miami 2012 tennis tournament. #2 Rafael Nadal and #4 Andy Murray led six other seeded players ranked in the top 10 to advance to the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Florida. Nadal and Murray dealt straight set eliminations to a couple of Colombian players. Nadal beat Santiago Giraldo 62 60 in a ruthless night match victory while earlier in the day, Murray advanced with a 62 63 trashing of Alejandro Falla. Nadal and Murray are seeded to meet in the semifinals if both players make it that far. It was an assuring victory for Murray especially as he lost in the second round in his last tournament at Indian Wells.

Most seeded players advanced to the next round. #6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France beat veteran Xavier Malisse of Belgium in straight sets 75 75. #7 Tomas Berdych downed Nicholas Mahut 75 61, while #9 Janko Tipsaveric gained revenge by beating David Nalbandian of Argentina 75 63. America's #2 and #10 seed John Isner downed veteran Nikolay Davydenko but he had to rally for a 26 63 64 victory. Isner was an Indian Wells finalist last weekend and could very well be the top American player after this tournament if he gains enough points to overtake current world #8 Mardy Fish. Other seeded players advancing included #13 Gilles Simon, #16 Kei Nishikori, #19 Florian Mayer, #22 Jurgen Melzer, #25 Radek Stepanek and #26 Milos Raonic. Marc Granollers was the only seeded player in action on Friday who lost going down to L Rosol of the Czech Republic in three sets 26 63 61.

Top seeded and world #1 Novak Djokovic and world #3 Roger Federer start their Miami 2012 tennis tournament campaigns on Saturday, March 24.

Miami 2012 Tennis - Friday. 23 March, 2012

Men's Singles - Second Round
[2] R Nadal (ESP) d S Giraldo (COL) 62 60
[4] A Murray (GBR) d A Falla (COL) 62 63
[6] J Tsonga (FRA) d X Malisse (BEL) 75 75
[7] T Berdych (CZE) d N Mahut (FRA) 75 61
[9] J Tipsarevic (SRB) d D Nalbandian (ARG) 75 63
[10] J Isner (USA) d N Davydenko (RUS) 26 63 64
[13] G Simon (FRA) d [Q] R Bautista-Agut (ESP) 64 62
[16] K Nishikori (JPN) d L Lacko (SVK) 63 63
[18] A Dolgopolov (UKR) d [Q] A Veic (CRO) 64 75
[19] F Mayer (GER) d I Dodig (CRO) 64 75
[22] J Melzer (AUT) d R Haase (NED) 76(2) 36 64
L Rosol (CZE) d [24] M Granollers (ESP) 26 63 61
[25] R Stepanek (CZE) d T Haas (GER) 76(4) 61
[26] M Raonic (CAN) d [Q] A Clement (FRA) 76(7) 62
[32] P Kohlschreiber (GER) d F Gil (POR) 62 75

Men's Doubles - First Round
D Marrero (ESP) / F Verdasco (ESP) d [4] R Lindstedt (SWE) / H Tecau (ROU) 76(5) 62
M Melo (BRA) / J Monaco (ARG) d [WC] J Blake (USA) / R Harrison (USA) 63 36 14-12
A Qureshi (PAK) / J Rojer (NED) d P Andujar (ESP) / C Berlocq (ARG) 61 64
F Lopez (ESP) / M Lopez (ESP) d F Mayer (GER) / V Troicki (SRB) 62 62
C Fleming (GBR) / R Hutchins (GBR) d M Fish (USA) / M Knowles (BAH) 61 76(5)

Miami 2012 Tennis Results - Thursday, 22 March, 2012

Men's Singles - First Round
M Baghdatis (CYP) d L Mayer (ARG) 61 64
[Q] G Garcia-Lopez (ESP) d [Q] R Ram (USA) 64 76(7)
C Stebe (GER) d F Cipolla (ITA) 63 75
A Ramos (ESP) d [Q] S Bolelli (ITA) 63 61
I Karlovic (CRO) d L Kubot (POL) 63 67(2) 76(2)
I Kunitsyn (RUS) d [WC] J Levine (USA) 76(8) 76(3)
B Becker (GER) d O Rochus (BEL) 57 63 62
B Tomic (AUS) d S Stakhovsky (UKR) 76(4) 63
[WC] R Harrison (USA) d P Starace (ITA) 67(6) 64 64
G Muller (LUX) d A Bogomolov Jr. (RUS) 57 64 76(5)
Y Lu (TPE) d J Nieminen (FIN) 64 63
[Q] S Bubka (UKR) d E Gulbis (LAT) 64 64
[Q] D Goffin (BEL) d D Young (USA) 75 64
[Q] B Phau (GER) d C Berlocq (ARG) 64 62
S Querrey (USA) d M Ebden (AUS) 61 57 75
[Q] F Dancevic (CAN) d J Chardy (FRA) 75 76(0)

Men's Doubles - First Round
[3] M Llodra (FRA) / N Zimonjic (SRB) d A Dolgopolov (UKR) / X Malisse (BEL) 63 76(4)
D Bracciali (ITA) / J Cabal (COL) d [8] F Cermak (CZE) / F Polasek (SVK) 76(5) 64
M Granollers (ESP) / R Nadal (ESP) d M Cilic (CRO) / I Karlovic (CRO) 61 63
K Anderson (RSA) / M Raonic (CAN) d N Mahut (FRA) / G Simon (FRA) 46 62 10-7
O Marach (AUT) / A Peya (AUT) d N Almagro (ESP) / T Bellucci (BRA) 76(5) 76(5)