Miami – quarterfinals

As Joca mentioned yesterday, the 24th all-European quarterfinals of a Masters 1000 event, for the first time men from Europe rule in Miami completely from quarterfinals and onwards.

4th quarterfinal:

(8)Richard Gasquet d. (4)Tomas Berdych    6-3, 6-3    [1:14 h]

They met two weeks ago at Indian Wells, and Berdych won 6-1 7-5 so there was tough to expect he would be defeated in a similar fashion… but it happened, he got only six games despite very neutral start: he led 3:2* in the 1st set making a better impression, had a couple of break points in the 6th game, however, after he couldn’t convert them, completely lost his rhythm spreading forehand errors all over the place and lost seven games in a row! In my opinion he was more erratic than Gasquet magnificent. The Frenchman can produce an all-court tennis, but this time he was limited to grabbing points off Berdych’s errors, from time to time entertaining the crowd with sharp-angle backhands. “I’m really happy with the way I played,” Gasquet expressed the obviousness. “It was a good match for me. And I think I was solid mentally. I was playing very good. It’s an important match for me.”

Match stats (total points: 61-47):
Winners:
Gasquet: 15 service, 2 aces, 4 FH, 3 BH, 1 volley, 1 overhead, 1 dropshot
Berdych: 8 service, 5 aces, 9 FH, 2 BH, 6 volleys
Errors:
Gasquet: 1 double fault, 7 FH, 8 BH, 1 volley
Berdych: 2 double faults, 20 FH, 10 BH, 2 volleys
Break point conversions & Challenges:
Gasquet: 3/4 (three games), 0/1
Berdych: 0/2 (one game)

3rd quarterfinal:

(2)Andy Murray d. (9)Marin Cilic   6-4, 6-3   [1:42 h]

This match showed how far away Cilic is from the best guys despite he’s approaching Top 10. The start was promising for him as he saved a triple break point in the opening game to establish a 3:1 lead, nevertheless he was broken three times in the 1st set (had lost two service games in two previous matches). He figured out that staying on the back of the court he’s chance-less against the consistent Murray, so he changed his tactics in the 2nd set, and was more offensive than ever, only in the 4th game he played more good volleys than usually in the entire match, all in vain – lost it after seven deuces in 15 minutes. I had an impression that Murray was all the time at 70% of his mental & physical involvement, so when Cilic fought strongly, and saved six match points at the end, it didn’t impress me at all because I know he isn’t a guy who would build a momentum coming back from a big hole against a superior opponent. The Scot improves to an 8-1 record over Cilic.

Match stats (total points: 75-58):
Winners:
Murray: 9 service, 6 aces, 4 FH, 3 BH, 5 volleys, 1 dropshot
Cilic: 6 service, 4 aces, 4 FH, 3 BH, 7 volleys, 5 overheads
Errors:
Murray: 3 double faults, 9 FH, 15 BH, 1 volley
Cilic: 3 double faults, 20 FH, 16 BH, 8 volleys
Break point conversions & Challenges:
Murray: 6/18 (eight games), 1/4
Cilic: 3/8 (four games), 1/3

2nd quarterfinal:

(15)Tommy Haas d. (11)Gilles Simon    6-3, 6-1    [1:04 h]
–
Clinical performance from Haas. He didn’t overreact after sensational win over No. 1 in the world. He returned on Centre Court twenty-two hours later being well motivated and in a great physical shape, also relaxed because he laughed when his little daughter was depicted on a big screen during the warm-up. The match seemed open until 3-all in the 1st set, since then Haas was doing on court what he wanted, Simon couldn’t respond with one of his biggest merits – patience; he was outplayed even in this department when Haas won a 30-stroke rally without anhelation. The German will play in the semifinals of a Masters 1000 event for the first time since 2006 (Paris). He said: “I used my chances right away in the second set and took that momentum..”

Match stats (total points: 56-35):
Winners:
Haas: 7 service, 2 aces, 5 FH, 2 BH, 3 volleys, 3 overheads, 1 lob
Simon: 3 service, 0 aces, 4 FH, 1 BH, 1 volleys, 2 overheads
Errors:
Haas: 0 double faults, 10 FH, 10 BH, 2 volleys
Simon: 2 double faults, 19 FH, 9 BH, 3 volleys
Break point conversions & Challenges:
Haas: 4/8 (four games), 0/2
Simon: –

1st quarterfinal:

(3)David Ferrer d. Jurgen Melzer    4-6, 6-3, 6-0    [1:55 h]

The 1st set was bizarre, Ferrer led 2:0, then was 2:5* down having a double break point to level at 5 games apiece. So almost six breaks of serve in the first ten games! Perhaps Ferrer would have broken Melzer in the 10th game if he hadn’t received a warning due to shouting “puta!” after losing the second break point at 4:5. It hurt him so much that he called for a warning for Melzer in the 2nd set when the Austrian hit the ball into the stands. Melzer implemented the right tactics generally speaking: hard ground-strokes, risky 2nd serve and changing of pace, but it worked only the first 40 minutes. From start of the 2nd set to the end of the match Ferrer’s domination was overwhelming. He’s fitter and too stubborn to collapse being 0-1 in sets against anyone except Nadal. He was patiently collecting points on Melzer’s errors and double faults (they separated them the most, Melzer committed 11 to none by Ferrer at 14-point discrepancy). Ferrer moves through to the Miami semifinals for the third time in career (2005-06) improving H2H against Melzer to 7-2.

Match stats (total points: 93-79):
Winners:
Ferrer: 13 service, 0 aces, 13 FH, 2 BH, 5 volleys, 1 overhead
Melzer: 15 service, 0 aces, 10 FH, 3 BH, 5 volleys, 1 overhead, 1 lob
Errors:
Ferrer: 0 double faults, 19 FH, 24 BH, 1 overhead
Melzer: 11 double faults, 22 FH, 22 BH, 3 volleys, 1 overhead
 Break point conversions & Challenges:
Ferrer: 7/19 (ten games), 1/2
Melzer: 4/6 (four games), 0/5