Federer, Kyrgios advance to Miami Open semis

MIAMI, Florida: Roger Federer dramatically fought his way into the Miami Open semi-finals with a 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (8/6) victory over Czech 10th seed Tomas Berdych on Thursday.

The 35-year-old Swiss, who has already won the Australian Open and Indian Wells so far this year, extended his win streak over Berdych to seven matches.

There was plenty of tension in the match-deciding tie-breaker, where Federer saved match point and then Berdych lost on a double-fault.

“I definitely got very lucky at the end, but I think I showed great heart today,” Federer said. “I fought and Tomas definitely started to step it up, but it was a great match at the end.”

Federer will face Nick Kyrgios in the semi-finals after the Australian came through an entertaining 6-4, 6-7 (9/11), 6-3 victory over 19-year-old German Alexander Zverev.

Thursday could very easily have been the end of the tournament for the 18-time Grand Slam champion, who entered the match having not dropped a set over eight consecutive matches at Indian Wells and Miami.

Berdych was broken in the opening game of the match and then Federer dealt with a break point in the second game. The Swiss was comfortable on his serve and then broke Berdych again at 4-2 to put the opening set beyond doubt.

But then, the Czech dug deep and came out fighting.

Berdych broke to go 5-3 up and took the contest into a third set, where Federer made the most of some unforced errors from his opponent to break at 4-2 but then, uncharacteristically, Federer let some sloppiness creep into his game.

Federer was broken when serving for the match at 5-3 and was unable to convert on match-point in the next game.

Berdych led 6-4 in the tie-breaker but gave up two points and Federer blasted a superb ace to get in front before the double-fault from the Czech ended the contest.

It was the second demoralizing defeat this month for Berdych. He lost at Indian Wells in the third round after leading 6-1, 5-2 against Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka.

Asked about his frustration, Berdych said: “What should I do? Should I destroy the table? Then you see how much I’m frustrated. I don’t know.

“It’s obviously not something that you want, to finish the tournament like that. But I got a lesson in the last tournament, so this is going to be fine to get over with. I think this is going to be a strawberry cake after that. It’s going to be fine.”

Federer improved to 17-1 in 2017, his best start to a season since 2006, and has now won seven tie-breakers in a row.

The Kyrgios-Zverev quarter-final was billed as a glimpse at the future of top-level tennis and if so, the sport should have an entertaining era ahead.

The match featured huge serves from Kyrgios, audacious and expertly executed lobs from Zverev and an intense second set tie-breaker decided for the German after his rival tried unsuccessfully to return a lob on set point through his legs.

Kyrgios, though, has added greater control to his always explosive game and finished strong to set up a fascinating clash with Federer.

Meanwhile, Britain’s Johanna Konta beat Venus Williams 6-4, 7-5 in a grueling battle to reach the WTA Miami Open final, where she will face Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.

The Australian-born 25-year-old broke Williams in the first game and played aggressively throughout the opening set.

Williams fought back strongly in the second set, breaking to go up 3-1. But Konta broke back immediately and again for a 5-4 lead that allowed her to serve for the match.

The American took advantage of some nervy play from the 10th-seed to break back, but Williams was unable to hold serve and that gave Konta a second chance to wrap up the contest, which she did after more than two hours.

Konta said she expects a big challenge ahead in order to capture her second title of the year after a Sydney crown.

“I am going to have a tough battle on my hands,” Konta said. “Caroline makes you work.”

Wozniacki booked her place in the final after rallying to defeat Czech second seed Karolina Pliskova 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.

Pliskova, who won titles this year at Doha and Brisbane, also fell in the semi-final stage at Indian Wells two weeks ago.

The Czech broke Wozniacki in the first game of the match but the Dane fought back and at 5-4 had three set points.

Wozniacki then double faulted to give the Czech a break point, which she took before serving out for the set.

But former world number one Wozniacki, wearing down Pliskova with her solid defense, ran out a comfortable winner in the following two sets to earn a third final appearance of the year.

“I’m not sure how I managed to do that,” Wozniacki said. “It is tough when you lose that first set — especially having set points, it hits you a little bit. But I got a good start to the second set and that got me going, got me grinding.”

In her two finals this year, both in February, Wozniacki was beaten by Pliskova at Doha and by Ukrainian Elina Svitolina at Dubai.

Pliskova, who began the year with a title at Brisbane, was philosophical about her second semi-final loss of the month.

“I’m definitely positive,” she said. “I’ve won a lot of matches this year. I can’t be too disappointed but obviously I am disappointed to lose two semi-finals especially when I think I could have won both matches.

“Obviously I think I could have done a bit more this year but then again I have never had a start to a season like this.”