With only a few days left until its conclusion, the ATP Masters 1000 in miami already has the men's singles semis on the board. Rafael Nadal will face the biggest surprise of this tournament, Fabio Fognini from Italy. For the second semifinal, the stakes are even bigger with some irrefutable symbolic values on it as Roger Federer, the living legend of men's tennis will take on Nick Kyrgios a 21-year-old Aussie who might be the next icon of this sports. Getting in the semis was tougher than expected for both of them as they had to survive some big challenges from either Tomas Berdych or Alexander Zverev.
Federer saved two match points against Berdych
A long time rivalry going back in the mid of 2000s' had its flow resumed at Key Biscayne. Federer survived a three sets grueling match against a 31-year-old ambitious Czech player. The opening set saw Federer bullying his opponent from the baseline or with a high level of aggressiveness while charging toward the net. It was 6-2 for the Swiss and nothing couldn't predict the further developments. Despite a shady form lately, Tomas Berdych has been a constant top 10 player throughout the years and some marks of his unquestionable value were seen during this particular match. He went on winning the second set by 6-3 pushing the clash into a decider.
Federer had a big chance at 5-3 but failed to serve out the match. The very next game saw a first match point for the Swiss, but he missed again. It all went down to a decisive tiebreak. Berdych saw the opportunity and had two match points of his own, both being wasted. In the end, it was Federer who prevailed by 8-6 in the tiebreak.
Kyrgios edged Zverev
The last quarterfinals saw a duel between Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev. These two young tennis stars they both made quite a statement on Miami's central court. It was an entirely different show compared to that seen a couple of weeks ago in Indian Wells when Kyrgios sailed with ease past Zverev. In Miami's last quarterfinal, the opening set went on Kyrgios' pocket.
In the second one, none of them was unable to disrupt the pace, so the act went on a tiebreak. Several match points wasted by Kyrgios ignited the hope and belief for Zverev. The young German won the tie-break by 11-9 thus pushing the thriller into a third set. It's been quite a debate lately around Kyrgios' new sense of maturity while on the tennis court. And he marched on the same path, a constant one with no mistakes in the key moments. It was 6-3 for the Aussie player, and now he will face Roger Federer for a place in Miami's final.
