Djokovic, Nadal, Sharapova advance at Miami

MIAMI—Top-ranked defending champion Novak Djokovic and world number twos Rafael Nadal of Spain and Maria Sharapova of Russia advanced at the $9.6 million ATP and WTA Miami hardcourt tournament on Tuesday.

Novak Djokovic. AP

Serbian star Djokovic, winner of the past three Grand Slam singles crowns, reached the quarter-finals with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over French 17th seed Richard Gasquet.

Djokovic will next face the winner of a later match between Spanish fifth seed David Ferrer and Argentina’s 11th seed Juan Martin Del Potro.

Nadal, a three-time Miami runner-up who has never lifted the trophy, ousted Japanese 16th seed Kei Nishikori 6-4, 6-4.

Nadal fired eight aces and won 65 percent of first-serve points while saving six of the eight break points he faced to advance in two hours and 11 minutes, improving to 16-3 on the season.

“The beginning was very tough,” Nadal said. “I started playing more aggressively. At the end of the first set, I felt that I started to win my serves easier than him. I believe that I had more the control of the game.

“In the second set I started well, 3-0. Just 5-3, I didn’t play my best game there and he broke me. Happy to have the break back later and finally win the match.”

The Spaniard will face the winner of a later match between French sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and German 19th seed Florian Mayer.

On the women’s side, second seed Sharapova advanced to the semi-finals with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Chinese eighth seed Li Na, the Russian beauty snapping a four-match losing streak to the Asian star.

“I came into this match losing to her the last few times,” Sharapova said. “I really wanted to change that.”

The match began with five consecutive service breaks but Sharapova found her form at 4-3, winning the last eight games of the match and 12 points in a row in one stretch to move on after 68 minutes.

“I was really consistent in conditions where it was a little gusty and blowing around and I faced a tough opponent too,” Sharapova said. “I did a good job of maintaining my consistency throughout the whole match.”

Sharapova will next face the winner of a later match between US 10th seed Serena Williams and Denmark’s fourth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki.

Sharapova, like Nadal, is a three-time Miami runner-up who has never won the crown.

British fourth seed Andy Murray ousted French 13th seed Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-4.

The Scotsman, who could face Nadal in the semi-finals, booked a last-eight date against Serbian ninth seed Janko Tipsarevic, who defeated Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (7/3), 6-2.

US eighth seed Mardy Fish outlasted Spanish 12th seed Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 6-3 in other fourth-round matches.

Next for Fish will be compatriot Andy Roddick, who eliminated Roger Federer in the third round, or Argentina’s Juan Monaco.