World No. 2 Roger Federer and No. 3 Novak Djokovic eased into the third round of the Key Biscayne Masters on Friday with victories over qualifiers.
Switzerland’s Federer, playing just his second tournament since losing to Rafael Nadal in the final of the Australian Open, beat American Kevin Kim 6-3, 6-2. Federer said it was always tricky taking on an unfamiliar opponent, even one ranked well below him.
“I’ve never played him before, so of course I was always going to get surprised in some points just because I didn’t know what his favorite shot was,” Federer said. “But I realized very quickly what his pattern was, especially on the serve, as well. Even though he had a good serve today, he had a good few games, but I think I did well today. It was a great start to the tournament.”
The 13-time Grand Slam champion next faces Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer, a 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 winner over France’s Fabrice Santoro.
Djokovic booked his third-round berth with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Canadian Frank Dancevic.
The Serbian saved all six break points he faced, breaking Dancevic three times en route to a victory in 70 minutes. Djokovic improved on his performance last year, when as defending champion he lost his opening match to South Africa’s Kevin Anderson.
Federer, winner of back-to-back titles at Key Biscayne in 2005 and 2006, took time off after the Australian Open to recover from a lingering back injury. He appeared to be headed to a rematch with Nadal at the first Masters event of the year last week at Indian Wells, but fell in the semi-finals to Britain’s Andy Murray.
“I feel like this is an important week for me to do well, especially now that I have matches again under my belt,” Federer said. “I’m into the third round here, so I feel like things are going well for me again.”
Murray’s run to the final in California moved the world No. 4 even closer to bumping Djokovic from the No. 3 spot.
Fifth-seeded American Andy Roddick opened his campaign with an emphatic 6-1, 6-1 rout of Argentina’s Diego Junqueira that took less than an hour.
In women’s second-round matches, second-seeded Russian Dinara Safina, who has a chance to leave with the No. 1 ranking, coasted into the third round with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Mathilde Johansson of France.
Safina would have overtaken Serena Williams atop the rankings had she reached the Indian Wells final last week, but the world No. 2 lost in the quarter-finals. Safina, 22 and the younger sister of former men’s world No. 1 Marat Safin, will get another shot at the top spot if things break her way this week.
Fourth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva, who lost her opening match at Indian Wells, bounced back with a 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 triumph over countrywoman Anastasia Pivovarova.
Seventh-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia advanced with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Mariya Koryttseva of Ukraine, and eighth-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Austrian qualifier Tamira Paszek, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.
In the women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Chuang Chia-jung and India’s Sania Mirza defeated Iveta Benesova and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 7-5.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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