Miami Open: Djokovic moves into quarters with win over Thiem; Halep ousted

Photos from the matches played at the Miami Open on Tuesday

IMAGE: Novak Djokovic hits a backhand against Dominic Thiem (not pictured) during their fourth round match at the Miami Open at Crandon Park Tennis Center in Key Biscayne, Florida on Tuesday. Photograph: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports/via Reuters

Top-seeded world number one Novak Djokovic beat powerful Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-3 6-4 in the fourth round at the Miami Open in Florida on Tuesday.
In a contest closer than the score might indicate, Djokovic needed four match points before finally prevailing against the world number 14.
Thiem, 22, the youngest player ranked in the top 20, regularly unleashed thunderous forehands that often had Djokovic on the back foot.
But Thiem could not capitalise on his chances. He converted only one of 15 break points, and in the end Djokovic's superior consistency proved the difference and he advanced after one hour 50 minutes.

IMAGE: Tomas Berdych plays a forehand during his match against Richard Gasquet. Photograph: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Next up for the Serb is a quarter-final against Czech Tomas Berdych, who beat Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 in an endurance contest that stretched nearly two hours 30 minutes under the scorching midday sun.
Another quarter-final will pit two big servers as Canadian 12th seed Milos Raonic takes on Australian 24th seed Nick Kyrgios.
Raonic, who lost the Indian Wells final to Djokovic nine days ago, demolished Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia 6-0, 6-3 in less than an hour.
The often-volatile Kyrgios, meanwhile, kept his emotions in check as he edged Russian Andrey Kuznetsov 7-6(3), 6-3.
Another seed drops as number five Halep falls

IMAGE: Timea Bacsinszky plays a backhand against Simona Halep. Photograph: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Another high seed fell as number five Simona Halep was sent packing by Timea Bacsinszky 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a Miami Open quarter-final in Florida on Tuesday.
Romanian Halep appeared well-placed for victory when she took the first set.
It was only the second set Bacsinszky had dropped during the tournament, and the 19th-seeded Swiss made sure it would be her last of the day as she prevailed in a match that stretched nearly two hours 30 minutes.
Bacsinszky carved out some good moves of her own, and ended the match in style with a cross-court backhand winner.
"I came back from a long road," 26-year-old Bacsinszky, who has battled injury, said in a courtside interview.
"For the past year she (Halep) has been an inspiration for me because I believe in hard work and I know she's one of the players which work really hard. To be able to play that well against her and catch the win is really amazing."
Halep's exit left the event with only one of the top 12 women's seeds -- number two Angelique Kerber, the Australian Open champion from Germany.
Bacsinszky has taken some big scalps en route to the semi-final, disposing of third seed Agnieszka Radwanska and 16th seed Ana Ivanovic in previous rounds.
Her Miami form follows on from a stellar 2015 campaign during which she cracked the world top 10 for the first time and won two tournaments before a knee injury prematurely halted her campaign in October.  source :redif