Wawrinka, Federer advance in Miami
Stan Wawrinka fired up his Miami Open campaign with a straight-sets win over Horacio Zeballos.
Published : Mar 25, 2017 23:44 IST
Roger Federer survived a brave challenge from American qualifier Frances Tiafoe before emerging with a 7-6 (7/2) 6-3 victory as he got his Miami Open title bid underway on Saturday.
Tiafoe, ranked 101st in the world, struggled against Federer's serve but was strong on his own and forced a first set tie-break in which the Swiss came out on top.
The 19-year-old son of immigrants from Sierra Leone then broke Federer's serve in the first game of the second set only for the 18-times Grand Slam winner to break back twice and run out a comfortable winner in the end.
Federer is in fine form having clinched the Australian Open and Indian Wells so far this year and extended his record to 14-1.
The 35-year-old is looking for his third Miami title following wins in 2005 and 2006.
Wawrinka progresses
Top seed Stan Wawrinka got his Miami Open title bid off to a solid start Saturday, beating Argentina's Horacio Zeballos 6-3, 6-4.
In the absence of Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, the top-ranked players in the world, Wawrinka is the number one seed at the ATP hardcourt event and is fired up after reaching last week's final at Indian Wells, where he was beaten by fellow Swiss Roger Federer.
"I'm playing better tennis," Wawrinka said. "I feel that I'm playing good here. I took the confidence from Indian Wells. So let's see... When I'm playing well, when I am confident with my game, I know I can beat anybody.
"It has been quite tough conditions these last few days here. Raining, really windy today. It's really windy on the court, so it's never easy. I'm happy the way I was moving, the way I was playing, and my attitude in general was really positive."
Wawrinka, who turns 32 on Tuesday, will face either Feliciano Lopez or Malek Jaziri next for a place in the last 16.