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Week 13-14: Miami [Zhijun]

SirBloody Idiot

Cricketer Of The Year
Sony Ericsson Open II
PTA Masters Series 1000 - Semi Finals (Friday) - Miami, FL - Hard (Outdoors)

  • 30th seed Zhijun Sun will play in his maiden PTA Masters 1000 final this Sunday after coming from a long way down in the second set to beat giant-killer Tal Cohen in straight sets. Cohen had been on a real tear this week by beating the likes of Brdar, Micic, Davis and Boros, but met a player in similarly ominous form. The slightly-built 19-year old was just too good for Cohen in the first set as he snatched a late break of serve to take the first set 7-5. But it was a horror start in the second as he went down a double break and 0-4, before the Israeli imploded completely and dropped six of the next eight. In the tiebreaker it was all Zhijun as he played attractive and attacking tennis to move to the final 7-5, 7-6(1).

  • He plays third seed Radek Špidlá after he came from a set down again to beat Zoltán Varga. The Czech giant again dropped his first set through rare serving mistakes, but started to find his feet and eventually worked his way back into the contest. Varga has enjoyed a fantastic fortnight in Miami, but it came to an end suddenly in the third as Špidlá played perhaps his best tennis of the tournament to keep his hopes alive with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win.

  • Seeded players out:
    Zoltán Varga.
  • It wasn't Cohen's best day as he came into his doubles semi final obviously tired from his singles match. His partner Raz Teper could not pick up the slack as eighth seeded Brazilians Carlos Machado & Dênis Rodrígues breezed to a 6-1, 7-6(2) victory - an amazing result considering their position a set into their quarterfinal. They set up an all South American final against Diego Hurtado & Paolo Mandonna who advanced yesterday.

  • Seeded players out:
    Tal Cohen &
    Raz Teper.
Will add the final draw at the end of the tournament to the first posts because we're at the stage no one really cares about now.
 

SirBloody Idiot

Cricketer Of The Year
Sony Ericsson Open II
PTA Masters Series 1000 - Doubles Final (Saturday) - Miami, FL - Hard (Outdoors)

  • Brazilian duo Carlos Machado & Dênis Rodrígues romped to their third title of the season by cruising past Diego Hurtado & Paolo Mandonna in an all South American final on doubles Saturday in Miami. After being on the brink of defeat in their quarter final match up, the turnaround for the eighth seeds has been remarkable as they backed up a massive semi final win over Tal Cohen & Raz Teper with a dominant finals display. The aggressive South American pairing lacked cohesion at times and also the consistency that earned them big quarter final and semi final wins over seeded opposition. In just over an hour, Machado and Rodrígues proved too good to claim the title and a big prize cheque 6-2, 6-4.

  • Seeded players out: None.
 

SirBloody Idiot

Cricketer Of The Year
Sony Ericsson Open II
PTA Masters Series 1000 - Singles Final (Sunday) - Miami, FL - Hard (Outdoors)

  • World No. 33 Zhijun Sun has claimed the first PTA Masters 1000 title of his career by capping off a sensational fortnight in Miami with a four-set upset win over World No. 3 Radek Špidlá. Despite less than convincing quarter and semi final displays, Špidlá was the big favourite to tame the nineteen year old with a wealth of finals experience and size to his advantage. The first set went the way many expected as a brave Zhijun stuck with Špidlá, but was not able to get a read on his serve as Špidlá braved windy conditions with some calm strokeplay. That took him the first 6-4, but Zhijun got the break he needed in the second as, serving first, he surged to a 3-0 lead to leave the third seed to play catch up.
With the scores level at a set each, Špidlá was still the favourite with a 2-0 record in Masters Series finals. But Zhijun kept coming, and while he struggled to continually win points off the Špidlá serve he was doing enough to save break points on his own and neither man was broken as the third set went to a tiebreaker. But it was Zhijun who managed to get the better of his opponent in the roulette breaker, and after botching three set points converted his fourth to secure a decisive two-sets-to-one lead. That was the big boost for the teenager who grew in confidence and expanded in his strokeplay to secure a double break lead in the fourth. The tiring Špidlá was starting to falter as the wind disrupted his ball toss, and despite clawing one break back couldn't tame the conditions as the Chinese prodigy secured the biggest win of his career 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(6), 6-2.

That result sees him rise seven places to World No. 26, while Špidlá extends his buffer at World No. 3 to nearly 1,400 points.

  • Seeded players out:
    Radek Špidlá.
 

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