The second ATP Masters 1000 tournament, the Miami Open, closes the curtain on the first part of the American hardcourt swing, and we are ready to see the players get down and dirty in the clay. Novak Djokovic continues to put a stronghold on his number one ranking and dominance on the ATP World Tour with his second consecutive and fifth Miami Open title. For the second consecutive year, Djokovic has completed the remarkable sweep of the Indian Wells and Miami double. The final was between “Big Four” rivals and friends, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. This final was reminiscent of the Australian Open final where Djokovic broke Murray quickly in the fourth set, on his way to a bagel set and his fifth title Down Under. The match started off with four breaks of serve in the first eight games and these games were dominated by one player in the first eight games whether it was a hold or a break. The first set went to Djokovic in a tiebreaker as Novak quickly raced out to a 4-0 lead, but Murray missed a couple of glorious forehand opportunities to pull within a point of Novak twice. Novak clinched the first set on another Murray forehand into the net.

Djokovic had four break chances to go up 2-1 in the second, but Murray fended all of them off to hold. To take the second set, Murray broke at love with a blistering backhand return winner, winning the set 6-4. Djokovic put that second set loss behind him quickly breaking Murray in the opening game of the third and consolidated it toughing out a hold. It was nearly a valiant effort for Murray saving numerous break points, but Djokovic broke Murray’s serve, and likely Murray’s will, to take a double break lead. The Brit was threatening to get a break to get on the board, but it was to no avail, as Djokovic put down another bagel on Andy Murray.

Champion: Novak Djokovic: The Serbian continued to prove once again why he is far and away the best player in the world at the moment. There were questions early on whether he would even reach the final after dropping the second set to Martin Klizan, but he would go on and dominate the third set, taking it 6-1. The world number one had no trouble dealing with Steve Darcis but had some trouble with the quirky Ukrainian, Alexandr Dolgopolov. After dropping the first set in a tiebreaker, Djokovic was lucky to escape Dolgopolov going up a set and two breaks up, as the Ukrainian just missed his forehand. David Ferrer isn’t the type of player to really give Djokovic trouble as Ferrer is a grinder without any major weapons, however, the Serb struggled throughout the whole match in which it took a couple of late breaks to defeat the Spaniard. After the first set tiebreaker against John Isner, it was smooth sailing in the second set for the champion, taking it 6-1.

Winner: Dominic Thiem: The Austrian once again put himself on the map again as a rising star of the the ATP World Tour by getting to the quarterfinals before falling to Andy Murray in three sets. After making it to the fourth round in the US Open last year, many believed he primed to crack into the seeds at the Australian Open, but due to injuries, he struggled against the heat and the competition in Australia. After taking out tenth-seeded Feliciano Lopez in his second match, his draw eased up as he knocked out Jack Sock and toughed out a grueling three-setter against Frenchman lefty Adrian Mannarino. Thiem started out hot against Andy Murray getting up an early break and forcing the Brit to play defense on many points. Murray righted the ship and maybe the pressure of being a set away from his first Masters semifinal weighed on him mentally as the Brit was absolutely dominant in the final set. Thiem’s success in Key Biscayne should give him a wave of momentum going into the clay season, which is his favorite surface.

Winner: John Isner: After a dismal first two months, John Isner is back to being well, the John Isner that was in the top ten. Disappointing showings in Australia and the Davis Cup meant he needed to turn it around before his ranking and his mentality would take a cliff dive, and excellent showings in Indian Wells and Miami have been massive. In Isner’s second match he would have to take on the task of trying to defeat the fiery Bulgarian, Grigor Dimitrov. Isner came up with the goods while Dimitrov once again failed to embark on another possible deep run. Isner and fellow big-server, Canadian Milos Raonic, met in the fourth round, and as many expected, this went the distance through tiebreakers. The American would fall in the first breaker, but just squeaked by in the last two. The shortest player in the top ten, Kei Nishikori, would be next on Isner’s path to the semis as Isner played a flawless match completely dominating the much smaller Japanese number one. World number one Novak Djokovic would await Isner. Isner would struggle on his service games early leading 40-0 in his first few games, but Djokovic with his world-class returning and defense brought it back to deuce but could not get a break. In the first set breaker, Djokovic would get the early mini-break which comfortably handed him the set. The second set was all Novak as he delivered brilliant shots point after point to send Isner packing.

Loser: Rafael Nadal: The now world-number five is hoping his home away from home, the clay, brings better times for him than the hard courts of the California desert and the Miami beaches. The Spaniard was hoping to gain at least 1000+ points from these two Masters events but only ended up gaining just a couple of hundred points. After making quick work of countryman, Nicolas Almagro, Nadal wound up getting bounced by another of his countryman, Fernando Verdasco, in three sets. Rafa was back to his old habits on the hard court taking second serves from way behind the baseline and not playing offensive tennis. This has hurt him in these last two tournaments, but he hopes to re-find his game in time for the clay. Nadal was quoted saying this about his game, “A month and a half ago I didn’t have the game. My game has improved but … I am still playing with too much nerves for a lot of moments, important moments, still a little anxious on those moments.” Here’s to hoping Rafa finds his game as tennis is much better off when the Big 4 are all at the peak of their powers.

Loser: Grigor Dimitrov: After making it to the fourth round in the Australian Open, Dimitrov’s game has fallen off of a cliff. The third round loss here was looming as preceding tournaments have seen him exit twice in the second round and twice in the third round. The pressure for “Baby Fed” of being in the top ten and trying to win his first major in the “Big Four” era have clearly gotten to him. He has failed to defend his title in Acapulco and has a mediocre .500 win percentage in his last four tournaments. Albeit it is quite the task to knock off the best server , John Isner, (who is 6’10”, which makes it no less difficult) in the game, Dimitrov should be winning these kinds of matches and even against lower-ranked players to prove he belongs in the top ten, which right now, he is proving he is more of a top thirty player than someone who belongs in the top ten.

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About the author
Noel John Alberto
Filipino-American sports journalist from Toms River, NJ. UMBC Graduate and aspiring physical therapist. Tennis editor and multi-sport coordinator for VAVEL USA. Writer for Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Serie A sections of VAVEL UK. Sports aficionado. Host of the On The Line tennis podcast.