Sony Ericsson Open: Order of Play and Ticket Availability for Friday April 1, 2011

Friday’s order of play at the Sony Ericsson Open can be found below. For tickets to Friday’s action, click the travel link on the top menu bar for Grand Slam Tennis Tour’s official website.

ORDER OF PLAY – FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2011

STADIUM start 1:00 pm
[14] M Fish (USA) vs [2] N Djokovic (SRB) – ATP
[8] M Martinez Sanchez (ESP) / A Medina Garrigues (ESP) vs [3] L Huber (USA) / N Petrova (RUS) – WTA

Not Before 7:00 PM
[1] R Nadal (ESP) or [7] T Berdych (CZE) vs [3] R Federer (SUI) – ATP
D Hantuchova (SVK) / A Radwanska (POL) vs S Peer (ISR) / S Peng (CHN) – WTA

Nadal and Federer to Meet in Miami Semifinal

Sony Ericsson Open—Key Biscayne, Florida

Top seed Rafael Nadal and No. 3 seed Roger Federer took different paths to a highly anticipated semifinal showdown at the Sony Ericsson Open during Thursday’s action.

For Federer, his day at the office was made easy when his opponent Gilles Simon was forced to quit after trailing 3-0 in the first set. Suffering a stiff neck throughout the day, Simon pulled the plug on the pair’s fourth career meeting after 11 minutes.

“Well, I felt to this morning during the warmup,” said Simon. “It’s a pain I have sometimes. I had it in Rotterdam one month ago. I couldn’t play either.

“I have some problem with my back. I know I have to work on it. Still some days, sometimes I just wake up like this and cannot turn my head that much and really feel uncomfortable on the court. I mean, tennis is a hard game. You have to play 100% if you want to have a chance to win. When you play Roger, you have to play more than that.”

Tying his head-to-head series with Simon at 2-all, Federer will next face his career rival Nadal in the pair’s 23rd meeting on Friday night. The legendary duo haven’t played in the United States since the Sony Ericsson Open final in 2005.

While Federer had time to spare after his retirement victory, Nadal was made to work during his night clash with Czech Tomas Berdych. After his dominating first set win, Nadal dropped the second set before regrouping to take the match 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Beginning the encounter in full tilt, Nadal stormed out to a 4-0 lead before sealing the set with an easy service game. However, as easy as the first set was won for the Spaniard, the second set become an all out nightmare. With Berdych raising the level of his game, Nadal saw his hopes of a straight set win diminish with the length and speed of his opponent’s groundstrokes.

With one set separating each man from the semifinals, it was Nadal who jumped out to a 5-3 lead courtesy of his high spinning forehand. Dropping his first set against Berdych since 2006, Nadal improved to 10-3 against the Czech in lifetime meetings.

Nadal and Federer will highlight Friday’s night session, while Novak Djokovic and Mardy Fish will be featured during afternoon action.

Video: Ferrer Hitting ball at Baby

During his quarterfinal match against Mardy Fish at the Sony Ericsson Open on Wednesday, David Ferrer lost his cool and decided to whack a ball at a crying baby in the stands.

While the ball didn’t come close to the baby, Ferrer’s behavior did draw whistles from the crowd.

Video: Nadal vs. Federer Nike Clash of Champions

The video below highlights footage from the Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer Nike Clash Champions event which was held in Portland, Oregon prior to the start of the BNP Paribas Open.

Enjoy.

Video.

Djokovic Sizes Up Fish Encounter

On a roll and riding a 24-match winning streak, Novak Djokovic will next face Mardy Fish for a spot in his fourth straight final at the Sony Ericsson Open. Following his 6-4, 6-2 victory over Kevin Anderson of South Africa, Djokovic evaluated the challenges of facing the new top-ranked American.

“I think he’s on a great run,” confessed Djokovic. “He’s been playing some really good tennis this week, beating high?ranked players, quality players. Today he looked really confident on the court. If he serves well, then he can really beat anybody, I think.

“It’s going to be really unpredictable what’s going to happen. Very good match. I look forward to it.”

Owning a 5-0 head-to-head series lead over Fish, Djokovic will be playing his first day match of the event when the pair take court on Friday.

“I think I’ve played all during the night actually, all four matches,” said Djokovic. So it’s going to be different playing during the day. It’s going to be faster, and I think it’s a little bit more suitable to him.

“But, you know, I have a day to recover, to get used to it, to get some practice. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

Djokovic hasn’t lost a match since the World Tour Finale in London.

Fish Puts Top American Spot into Perspective

Following his straight set win over David Ferrer at the Sony Ericsson Open on Wednesday, Mardy Fish had a chance to sit down with the respective media and talk about his new position as America’s top ranked player.

With defending champ Andy Roddick dropping out in the opening round of the event, Fish will surpass his countryman in next week’s rankings by reaching the No. 11 spot in the world. Roddick is projected to fall between 13 and 15 in the rankings.

“You know, I’ve never been in this position before. Obviously it’s very humbling,” admitted Fish. This is a pretty big country, a lot of people playing tennis. So I’ll try to put it into perspective, and I will.

“No. 11, career high No. 11 sounds really good, too. You know, these are the rewards that come with working as hard as I did.”

Adopting a new fitness regime last year which saw him shed weight and become stronger, Fish has become a more dangerous player with many more options on court. However, the 29-year-old was quick to admit that he had no regrets about his previous fitness level and attitude.

“You know, I was who I was when I was 21 and 24 and 23. You know, there’s just not one ounce in my body that goes back to the past,” reflected Fish. I had some really good results. I won a silver medal at the Olympics. There’s not very many people that have done that.

“I mean, I did a lot of cool things. I played a lot of good matches. You know, you can’t be as mature at 21 as you are now, as I am now. Never look back.”

Fish, who will be contesting his fourth Masters 1000 semifinal, will next face No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic. Fish trails Djokovic 5-0 in career head-to-head matches.

SE Open Order of Play for Thursday March 31, 2011

ORDER OF PLAY – THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2011

STADIUM start 1:00 pm
[21] A Petkovic (GER) vs [16] M Sharapova (RUS)

Not Before 3:00 PM
[3] R Federer (SUI) vs [25] G Simon (FRA)

Not Before 7:00 PM
[1] R Nadal (ESP) vs [7] T Berdych (CZE)

Not Before 9:00 PM
[3] V Zvonareva (RUS) vs [8] V Azarenka (BLR) or [2] K Clijsters (BEL)

COURT 2 start 2:00 pm
O Marach (AUT) / J Tipsarevic (SRB) or [7] R Bopanna (IND) / A Qureshi (PAK) vs [3] M Bhupathi (IND) / L Paes (IND)

Not Before 4:30 PM
[4] J Melzer (AUT) / P Petzschner (GER) vs [8] R Lindstedt (SWE) / H Tecau (ROU) or [2] M Mirnyi (BLR) / D Nestor (CAN)

Fish Becomes Top-ranked American with Semifinal Berth in Miami

Sony Ericsson Open—Key Biscayne, Florida

No. 14 seed Mardy Fish advanced to his semifinal of the Sony Ericsson Open on Wednesday by defeating No. 6 seed David Ferrer 7-5, 6-2.

Overcoming a stern challenge from Ferrer early on, Fish broke the Spaniard’s serve in the 11th game of the first set and never looked back. Breaking the 3-all head-to-head series tie he had with Ferrer, Fish also became the top-ranked American by advancing to the semifinals. He will surpass Andy Roddick in the world rankings on Monday.

Striking four aces in total while winning 91 percent of his first serve points, Fish benefited from the erratic play of his opponent through a majority of the second set.

Improving to 12-5 on the year with his latest victory, Fish will next face Novak Djokovic or Kevin Anderson.

Fish defeated Djokovic at the Miami event last year, while never playing Anderson on the ATP World Tour.

Tennis on the Rise Across Canada at the Grassroots Level

Growth in participation and equipment sales recorded in 2010

Toronto, March 30, 2011– Tennis Canada and the Canadian Tennis Industry Association (CTIA) announced Wednesday that results from a 2010 research study and industry sales reports indicate that tennis is experiencing significant growth across the country with a six percent increase in participation and substantial gains in some equipment sales.

“We are thrilled to report that for the third straight year, the results of this study have come back showing increased participation and tremendous interest in tennis across the country,” said Michael S. Downey, president and chief executive officer, Tennis Canada. “We firmly believe that success breeds success, and with the recent impact Canadian tennis players like Milos Raonic and Rebecca Marino have made on the international stage, we can only assume that these numbers are just the tip of the iceberg. As Canadian athletes make the headlines and more pro tennis is available on the airwaves, the interest and excitement surrounding tennis in Canada will reach new heights, leading more people to hit the courts.”

The total number of Canadians who played tennis last year was 4.8 million, up from 4.5 million in 2009. Of these participants, nearly one million identified themselves as frequent players. This makes tennis the fourth-highest ranked traditional participation sport in the country with 14 percent of Canadians aged 12 and up claiming to play frequently or occasionally. Tennis ranks sixth as a traditional sport for fan interest with 25 percent of the population claiming to be very or somewhat interested in tennis in Canada. Leading the country was Metro Vancouver, where tennis is the second most popular fan-based sport behind hockey.

The CTIA also released its annual industry report which shows that wholesale racquet sales increased by eight percent from 2009 while, after consecutive years of growth, wholesale ball sales declined five percent. However, the sales of progressive tennis balls for children aged 10 and under climbed nearly 50 percent. The spike in equipment sales illustrates an obvious correlation with the rise in participation and general interest for the sport of tennis across the country, particularly among youth.

“What is most impressive is that these results truly exemplify how tennis is a sport for life,” said Hatem McDadi, vice-president, tennis development, Tennis Canada. “We have a remarkably balanced sport with participation well-represented across both genders and all age groups. This sets the stage for further growth especially when coupled with success on the pro circuit internationally.”

The study also reflects the growing diversity of the Canadian population with 38 percent of players coming from various ethnic backgrounds, most notably citizens of Eastern European and Asian descent. This overdevelopment lends itself well to further participation growth consistent with long range population trends.

Identified as the number one barrier to increased participation, the lack of access to indoor tennis facilities prevents participants from being able to play the game year-round. According to the survey, 29 percent of players would play more often if more facilities were available. Currently, Canada has only 120 indoor facilities. This supports Tennis Canada’s mandate to increase the number of indoor facilities by assisting in the planning and funding of such projects. Tennis Canada will provide seed money and limited capital investment to new indoor facilities that are publicly owned. Tennis Canada is currently consulting on 15 projects across the country.

This study will continue to be conducted annually to assess tennis participation and fan interest in Canada.

Djokovic Breaks Down Anderson Challenge

Maintaining his stellar start to the 2011 season at the Sony Ericsson Open, world No. 2 Novak Djokovic will next face Kevin Anderson for a place in the semifinals.

Blitzing through another easy win over fellow Serb Viktor Troicki, Djokovic was asked to size up his next challenger.

“I will have an opportunity to get my revenge in the same court where I lost in 2008,” said Djokovic, who lost to Anderson at the Miami event in 2008.

“But, you know, he keeps on playing really well on these courts, and you’ve got to give him credit for that. He beat some very good players. Big serve, very aggressive.

“So, you know, tomorrow night we are going to play where conditions are going to be a little bit slower, which I guess is a little bit better for me.”

Riding a 23-match winning streak, Djokovic hasn’t lost a match since the end of November.

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