Roger Federer survived a stern test from Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut to reach the Miami Open quarterfinals on Tuesday, while top-seeded Swiss compatriot Stan Wawrinka was eliminated on his birthday. Federer clinched the 7-6(5) 7-6(4) victory on his third match point, shortly after Wawrinka fell 4-6 6-2 6-1 to 16th-seeded German Alexander Zverev. Bautista Agut played the match of his life, hitting the ball deep with relentless precision in an effort to keep Federer pinned to the baseline, giving the 18-times Grand Slam champion everything he could handle. But Federer’s class proved the difference in the tiebreaks as he improved to 6-0 and advanced to a showdown against Czech 10th seed Tomas Berdych. Wawrinka lost to Federer in the Indian Wells final nine days ago and was denied a chance of setting up a rematch in Miami. A day after saving three match points against John Isner, the 19-year-old Zverev dominated the final two sets against Wawrinka, breaking twice in the second and thr...
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