Djokovic Survives, Advances in Miami | IXGAMES
It took a little more effort than expected, but World’s No. 1 Novak Djokovic is heading into the quarterfinals at the Miami Open. Djokovic was the 4/7 favorite to win the title heading into Tuesday’s fourth-round matchup against Alexandr Dolgopolov, but the feisty Ukrainian took the first set and nearly the second before melting down and losing the third 6-0. Dolgopolov was a +1200 to win that match. Now that Djokovic has cleared that hurdle, he is on to the next round, where he’ll face World’s No. 8 David Ferrer. The Spaniard was a 28/1 outsider to win the Miami Open going into his fourth-round match against Gilles Simon (+240), which he won handily in straight sets. Originally a clay-court specialist, Ferrer has made strides on the hardcourt, but is still 13-5 lifetime versus Djokovic. That includes each of their last seven matches dating back to 2012. Meanwhile, No. 4 Andy Murray survived his fourth-round matchup against Kevin Anderson (+500) to move onto the quarterfinal round. Murray was the second favorite at 3/1 to win the Miami Open before facing Anderson, and next up is Dominic Thiem, the No. 52-ranked Austrian, who lost his only other match against Murray at last year’s Rotterdam Open.