By Alberto Amalfi | Tuesday, March 29, 2016
No. 7-seeded Tomas Berdych beat back Richard Gasquet, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, to advance to the Miami Open quarterfinals.
Photo credit: Miami Open
Tomas Berdych beat the sticky heat and a tricky Richard Gasquet in the process.
Berdych served 79 percent and dropped just eight points on serve in the decisive set of his 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 victory over Gasquet.
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The seventh-seeded Czech advanced to his fourth straight Miami Open quarterfinal and sixth in the last seven years. Berdych will face either world No. 1 Novak Djokovic or 14th-ranked Austrian Dominic Thiem for a semifinal spot.
Today's fourth-round clash was a rematch of the 2015 US Open fourth round, which Gasquet won in four sets.
Gasquet, one of four Frenchman to reach the round of 16, used his heavier topspin and angles to break first.
Berdych broke back for 4-all then grinded through a seven-minute hold, saving a couple of break points along the way, for 5-4.
Gasquet fought off a pair of break points in the ensuing game then shanked his signature shot, the backhand, as Berdych reeled of the final three games to seize a one-set lead.
Using his slider serve effectively on the deuce side, Gasquet won 15 of 16 points played on his first serve in collecting the second set to force the decider.
Berdych, who hit four of his 12 aces in the final set, erased the only break point he faced in the decider.
David Goffin ended the run of lucky loser Horacio Zeballos with a 7-5, 6-3 victory. Zeballos had beaten 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro and Fernando Verdasco in succession. The 15th-seeded Belgian will take on Gilles Simon for a place in his second straight semifinal.
In their lone prior meeting, the 19th-ranked Simon beat Goffin on the grass of Queen's Club last June.
In an all-French fourth-rounder, Simon obliterated a weary Lucas Pouille, 6-0, 6-1, in 57 minutes. Looking drained from his 6-7 (1), 7-6 (4), 7-5 upset of eighth-seeded David Ferrer in round three, Pouille served just 39 percent today and surrendered serve six times.