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4/6/09 5:48 PM | Ricky Dimon
At the Sony Ericsson Open, Rafael Nadal was upset by Juan Martin Del Potro and Roger Federer collapsed against Novak Djokovic. The end result was Andy Murray's third title in the last five Masters Series events.
It was a tale of two weeks at the Sony Ericsson Open.
Favorites took care of business in the early going of the season's second Masters Series event in Miami, Florida. That led to an absolute blockbuster quarterfinal lineup featuring eight of the top 10 seeds in the tournament. Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, Juan Martin Del Potro, Fernando Verdasco, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga booked spots in the quarters. In fact, you could make an argument that the the last eight players in Miami are currently the eight best players in the world. The only top eight seed who didn't make it was (8) Gilles Simon, who lost to (10) Tsonga in the fourth round.
Week two, however, did not progress as expected. The biggest shocker of the fortnight was Nadal's three-set quarterfinal loss to Del Potro; how it happened was even more surprising. Nadal led 3-0 in the third set with two breaks before going down in a final-set tiebreaker. The rest of the "Big 4" reached the semis before another upset took place. Federer had a one-set lead on Djokovic before melting down and losing in three sets.
Only Andy Murray stayed strong under the Miami heat throughout the whole tournament. After a relatively lackluster first few matches, the fourth-ranked Scot cruised to the title. A second-set hiccup against Del Potro in the semifinals notwithstanding, Murray had little trouble in hoisting his third Masters Series trophy in his last five tries (he won Cincinnati and Madrid last season). He crushed Verdasco in the quarters, ousted Del Potro 6-2 in the third set in the semis, then defeated Djokovic in straight sets on Championship Sunday.
Of course match results were not the only news-makers coming out of Miami. Nadal made headlines by saying the reason he played so bad in Miami was "personal." Nothing, however, was discussed more than Federer's racket smash, which took place after he lost to the second set to Djokovic and was down an early break in the third. The 13-time Grand Slam champion said it could have been his first broken racket since playing Nadal in Miami at least four years ago.
Surprises were few and far between in Miami, but out-of-retirement Taylor Dent enjoyed a comeback ride to the fourth round, where he fell to Federer. Dent will hope to continue his story when the clay-court swing begins this week in Houston.
Most of the top players will take a week-long break before taking their acts overseas for the European clay-court season. The action heats up next week with yet another Masters Series event on the dirt of Monte Carlo. Nadal won the title last year, dispatching Federer in the final.
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