With the 2013 Sony Open drawing to a close this weekend, four men are left vying for a shot at the title. Andy Murray may be the favorite at Key Biscayne, but Tommy Haas is playing the best tennis we’ve seen from him in quite some time.
Sony Open Tennis 2013: Men’s semifinals headline Friday schedule
Tommy Haas knocked off top-seeded Novak Djokovic earlier this week. Can he continue his impressive run against David Ferrer?
Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE
After ousting No. 19 seed Alexandr Dolgopolov, Haas pulled off a surprisingly easy fourth-round upset over top-ranked Novak Djokovic in straight sets. He followed that performance up with 6-3, 6-1 victory over No. 11 seed Gilles Simon. Can anyone stop him? David Ferrer will do his best. Here’s a look at Friday’s schedule:
Stadium Court, starts at 12:45 p.m. ET
No. 1 Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci vs. Lisa Raymond and Laura Robson
After falling to Maria Sharapova in the singles quarterfinals, Errani is still in the hunt to take home some hardware. She and Vinci came away with their first straight-set win last round.
Not Before 3 p.m. ET
No. 15 Tommy Haas vs. No. 3 David Ferrer
Friday marks Haas’ first semifinal trip in an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament since 2006. He hasn’t captured one of those titles since 2001. Maybe he’s just due, but the 34-year-old already made history this week. His upset over Djokovic made him the oldest player to knock off a world No. 1 in 30 years. Maybe the pressure is actually off after that.
Ferrer took nearly two hours to defeat Jurgen Melzer, but a clean third set let him ease up a bit in preparation for the semis. He now leads the ATP World Tour with 24 match wins in 2013. This is his third semifinal in Miami, the last coming in 2006. Ferrer is also 2-0 all-time against Haas.
Not Before 7 p.m. ET
No. 8 Richard Gasquet vs. No. 2 Andy Murray
Gasquet upset No. 4 seed Tomas Berdych in just one hour and 14 minutes Thursday. His serving needs to improve if he wants any shot at beating Murray. After a lengthy fourth-round battle with Nicolas Almagro, Gasquet was fortunate to get off quickly against Berdych.
Murray hasn’t dropped a set in three matches. His lone tiebreak against Grigor Dimitrov was only time he was truly tested. After finishing runner-up to Djokovic here last year, Murray doesn’t have to worry about the Serbian in his current run. At 25, he’s already playing in his 20th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semifinal. He is only 4-3 against Gasquet all-time, though, splitting two matches in 2012.
No. 3 Nadia Petrova and Katarina Srebotnik vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova and Flavia Pennetta
Keznetsova and Pennetta received a walkover last round, so they’ll be fresh for Friday’s match. Petrova and Srebotnik have only dropped one set so far, but will the fatigue factor in here?
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