Before this match, these two players had faced each other only once. That match was played last year in Houston and Monaco was the winner.

Anderson was looking to avenge that loss and he succeeded eventually. However, he had to toil hard for 2 hours and 30 minutes for that.

In the next round, Anderson will face the Czech player Tomas Berdych who has been given the 6th seed in this competition. For those of you who enjoy tennis betting at it’s best, we’d recommend backing Berdych.

In the first set, the first couple of games went with the serve and the scores were levelled at 1-1 at the end of the second game.

Monaco got a breakthrough in the 3rd game and then, by serving out the next game, he increased his lead to 3-1. However, he lost his lead pretty soon as he was broken back in the 6th game. There were no breakthroughs in the next 6 games and the set went into the tie breaker.

Anderson put his opponent into trouble with a couple of early mini breaks in the tie breaker. Monaco couldn’t recover from there and ended up losing the tie breaker to get down by a set.

In the second set, Monaco looked a lot more positive. He broke Anderson’s serve in the 6th game to take a lead of 4-2. The next couple of games went with the serve and the score was 5-3 in Monaco’s favour when the 8th game got finished. Anderson had to sneak in a breakthrough to take the set further, but, he couldn’t do that. With a serve hold in the 9th game, Monaco sealed the set.

In the third and final set, Monaco’s performance deteriorated under pressure. His serve was broken thrice in the set and he lost the set by 4-6 to get knocked out of the tournament.

This was another upset by the Finnish veteran. He had pulled off an upset in the second round too by defeating Milos Raonic of Canada.

Nieminen took 2 hours and 37 minutes to defeat Del Potro. He smashed a total of 51 winners in the match.

Before this match, Del Potro had faced Nieminen 4 times and the Argentinean had won all those matches in straight sets.

Nieminen got a great start in the opening set. He broke Del Potro’s serve in the second game and then, served out the next game to go up by 3-0.

The next 5 games went with the serve and the score was 5-3 in Nieminen’s favour when the 8^th game got over.

Nieminen dropped his serve in the 9^th game which brought down the lead to 5-4.  In the next game, Del Potro required a serve hold to level the scores, but, he couldn’t do that. Nieminen broke his serve for the second time in the set and sealed the set by 6-4.

Nieminen didn’t get a good start in the following set. His serve was broken in the 3^rd game and Del Potro got ahead by 2-1. The Argentinean player didn’t lose that lead thereafter. He won his next 4 service games and grabbed the set by 6-4.

In the decider, Del Potro began with a breakthrough in the very first game. He held his serve in the next game and increased his lead to 2-0. But, that lead remained for a very short period. Nieminen broke back in the 4^th game to make the scores 2-2.

Both the players got a couple of breakthroughs each in the next 8 games which ensured that the tie breaker would decide the outcome of the match.

Nieminen was again very calm in the tie breaker. He didn’t show any sign of nervousness and won the tie breaker comfortably to pull off the second consecutive upset.

In the quarter final, Nieminen will play against the no. 1 player in the world Novak Djokovic.

Sabatini Movie Rating: five / 5

Sabatini Online video Ranking: four / five

This was a huge upset. Del Potro had come into this tournament with some form. In the recently played BNP Paribas Open, he had defeated the no. 1 player in the world Novak Djokovic in the semi finals. Also, his world ranking is much higher than Kamke. So, not many people would have expected him to suffer a straight set defeat against a relatively lesser experienced German player. But, it happened. Kamke stunned Del Potro with his ruthless approach.

In the first five games of the opening set, there were no breakthroughs. Del Potro broke in the 6^th game and then, held his serve in the 7^th game to make the score 5-2 in his favour.

By serving out the eighth game, Kamke decreased the lead to 3-5. Del Potro was serving for the set in the 9^th game, but, Kamke didn’t let him serve it out. With a break of serve, he ensured that the set would go further. A serve hold for Kamke in the 10^th game levelled the scores.

Both the players held their serve in the next two games which extended the set into the tie breaker. Kamke continued playing with aggression in the tie breaker as well and won it to grab the set.

In the second set, Del Potro performed poorly on his serve and dropped his serve a couple of times consecutively. As a result of that, Kamke took a lead of 5-0. The Argentinean won his third service game in the set to make it 5-1, but, that was too little to change the course of the match. Kamke served out the 7^th game and secured a huge win.

Kamke’s next opponent will be Jurgen Melzer of Austria.

This was Djokovic’s first defeat in the ongoing season. He had won 22 matches on the trot before this match.

It was not a one sided encounter. Both the players had their chances, but, towards the end, it was Del Potro who played calmly and managed to get better of the no. 1 player in the world.

Del Potro had reached the semi finals by securing a victory over Andy Murray who is the no. 3 player in the world. So, his confidence was quite high before the match against Djokovic. However, he didn’t start well and lost the opening set, which triggered a betting bonus for fans, as well as pushing the odds of a Del Potro win further out.

But, in the second set, Del Potro came back into the match with some bludgeoning shots. He broke Djokovic’s serve thrice in the set and won it by 6-4 to extend the match into the third set.

In the final set, Del Potro again got into trouble. He was trailed by 3-0 at one point of time and it seemed that Djokovic would run away with this deciding set. But, Del Potro had other ideas. He broke Djokovic’s serve in the 5^th game and then, he held his serve in the 6^th game to make the scores 3-3.

Del Potro again had a breakpoint in the 9^th game and he capitalized on that to take a lead of 5-4. A breakthrough was necessary for Djokovic in the next game, but, the Serbian couldn’t do that. Del Potro calmly held his serve in the 10^th game and finished the match.

In the final match, Del Potro will face Rafael Nadal.

Sabatini Movie Ranking: 5 / 5

There was a huge difference in the current world rankings of these two players and it was expected that Del Potro would dominate against Gulbis. The same thing happened. It was a power packed performance by the Frenchman. He thrashed his Latvian opponent and made his way into the final 8. The match went on for 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Both the players had a good start. In the opening set, all the 12 games went with the serve which took the set into the tie breaker.

The tie breaker was also pretty close. Both the players had won 5 points each and from that stage, the set could have gone either way. It was Del Potro who won the next two points with a couple of fine forehand shots and sealed the set.

In the second set, both the players held their serve in the first seven games and the score was 4-3 in Del Potro’s favour when the seventh game got finished. The Argentinean broke his opponent’s service in the 8^th game and then, wrapped up the match by holding his serve in the ninth game.

The last time that these two players had played against each other was in 2011. In that match, Del Potro was defeated by Gulbis. So, the Argentinean avenged that defeat.

In the post match interview, Del Potro, “Although I won but, honestly speaking, I need to put up an improved performance in the next matches. Today, I felt that I didn’t play my return shots well.”

Sabatini Movie Rating: 4 / 5

Nishikori looked a bit rusty at the start, but, as the match progressed, he got into a very good rhythm and he looked majestic towards the end. He took 2 hours and 18 minutes to pull off the win and knock Berlocq out of the tournament.

The first couple of games of the opening set went with the serve and the scores were levelled at 1-1 at the end of the second game. Berlocq gave Nishikori the first blow in the third game, but, he dropped his serve in the very next game and lost the advantage immediately.

Both the players held their service in the next six games and the scorecard was showing 5-5 at the end of the 10^th game. In the 11^th game, Nishikori managed to get ahead by 40-30 and he had a chance to break Berlocq’s service, but, the Argentinean didn’t let that happen. He saved the breakpoint and held his service to make the score 6-5. Nishikori served out the next game and the set went into the tie breaker.

Nishikori was off to a brilliant start in the tie breaker. He won the first three points in a row to take a lead of 3-0. He maintained that lead till the end and won the tie breaker by 7-4 to seal the first set.

In the second set, Nishikori didn’t have a very good start. Berlocq broke his service in the third game and then, held his service in the next game to take a lead of 3-1. But, thereafter, Nishikori made a brilliant comeback. He got breakthroughs in the fifth and the seventh game and won the next four games consecutively to take a lead of 5-3. Berlocq held his serve in the 9^th game, but, that didn’t prove to be sufficient to stop Nishikori from winning the second set. The Japanese superstar served out the 10^th game and won the second set.

In the final set, Nishikori was at the top of his game. He lost just one game in the third set and won it easily by 6-1 to finish off the match.

In the third round, Nishikori will take on the winner of the match between Mikhail Youzhny and Evgeny Donskoy.