Sharapova falls at the final hurdle again

Agnieszka Radwanska claimed her second title of the season with a 7-5 6-4 victory over Maria Sharapova at the Sony Ericsson Open.

Radwanska, the fifth seed, needed one hour and 44 minutes to seal her triumph. The Pole, who also took the title in Dubai earlier in 2012, will now move up to a career-high position of four in the world rankings. It was a victory Radwanska founded on her own serve. Second seed Sharapova, who has now lost all four of her final appearances at the Miami event, failed to break once in the match. Radwanska was content to keep the ball in play and wait for Sharapova to make the first mistake. It proved a shrewd tactic as the Russian committed 45 unforced errors in all.

"I got a lot of good wins this year against top players," said Radwanska, who is now 26-4 for the year, all four defeats coming against world number one Victoria Azarenka. "I was trying from the beginning to focus on my serve, put my first serve in and go for it. "I think I did a really good job today and the se

rve was the key."

Andy Murray is through to the quarter-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open after a straight-sets victory over Gilles Simon in Miami.

The Scot had not played for a couple of days as Canadian Milos Raonic had to withdraw through injury in the previous round and it took a while for the British number one to get going.

He had to save three break points in the opening game before securing a break of his own to claim the opening set. And the three-time Grand Slam finalist went on to earn a 6-3 6-4 triumph to set up a last-eight meeting with Serbian ninth seed Janko Tipsarevic. Murray was not too concerned about his slow start to the match and felt the tough opening game actually helped him to overcome the Frenchman.

"The first game probably helped because I saved a couple of break points," he told www.atptour.com. "After that, I kind of loosened up a little bit and felt much better. "So that first game, even though it was like 17, 18 minutes, was probably a good thing after not playing for a few days."

World number one Novak Djokovic is also through to the last eight after beating Frenchman Richard Gasquet 7-5 6-3, and he will now play Spaniard David Ferrer, who beat Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro 6-3 6-3. Second seed Rafael Nadal also progressed with a 6-4 6-4 success over Japan's Kei Nishikori but there are concerns over his fitness as he took a medical break with a knee injury late in the opening set. American Mardy Fish is also through after beating Nicolas Almagro 6-3 6-7 (2-7) 6-3.

Belarusian extends winning streak but Kvitova crashes out

Victoria Azarenka swept into the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open with a 6-1 6-2 victory over Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova in Indian Wells.

The Australian Open champion from Belarus moved to 19-0 for the year with a slick performance against the veteran, breaking serve three times in the first set and twice more in the second to win in just an hour.

Serving for the match at 5-2, Azarenka went 40-15 up before double-faulting but then sealed the win on the next point when her opponent's backhand flew long.

"I am really happy with the way I played today, I really turned it around from the survival the last time around," she said, referring to her three-hour battle with Mona Barthel in the previous round.

"I really had to step it up from my last match. I'm glad I could perform much better than I did in my first match and show some good tennis."

The world number one will next meet Germany's Julia Goerges, a 6-3 6-4 winner against Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues. - http://www1.skysports.com

WTA - BNP Paribas Open : 12BET odds Marina Erakovic (NZL) Vs Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ) 3/8 3AM GMT+8

Marina Erakovic so far int he season, but she failed to impress until the tournament in Memphis started. It seems that she really liked those indoor conditions, because she was performing well there, getting all the way to the finals, but lost there to Arvidsson. Still, we have to mention that players which she defated on her way were not top quality.

Voskoboeva several times last season and I know that she can perform on very high level, but inconsistency with her games is her main problem, imho. So far this season, her best result was 3rd round at Australian open, but she haven't played since she retired from first round match on tournament in Pattaya (1 month ago).

Fifth Dubai title for former world number one as he ends Murray run



Roger Federer won his fifth Dubai Tennis Championship title with a 7-5 6-4 victory over Andy Murray in Saturday's final.

Five years after his fourth title, Federer confirmed that he is still up there to be reckoned with as he proved too strong for the British number one. Murray broke Federer once, but was himself broken three times, and two of those came at crucial periods at the end of the first and second sets and proved to be the difference.

Murray still owns a winning 8-7 record in head-to-head matches with the former world number one, but Federer has won four of their six meetings in finals and continues to have the edge when it really matters. Federer has looked back at somewhere near his best of late and again in the final he looked smooth and strong and won almost all of the big points when they were needed. - http://www1.skysports.com/