Nadal, Djokovic march on in Madrid

Coric sends Murray packing

AFP, MADRID: World number one Andy Murray's slump in form continued as he crashed out of the Madrid Masters third round 6-3, 6-3 to lucky loser Borna Coric on Thursday.
Rafael Nadal extended his flawless record on clay this season to 12-0 with a 6-3, 6-1 destruction of Nick Kyrgios.
And defending champion Novak Djokovic also eased into the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Feliciano Lopez. Coric was only handed a late reprieve to enter the draw in Madrid after losing in qualifying to Mikhail Kukushkin.
“After one match of the quallies where I lost and I was booking my flight back to home,” said Coric.
However, Murray cut a frustrated figure as he was swept aside by the 20-year-old Croatian for the second time in the pair's four meetings.
Coric broke the fragile Murray serve three times in the first set under the roof at the Manolo Santana centre court due to rain in the Spanish capital.
And one poor service game from the Wimbledon champion cost him dear in the second as Coric served out for the match to set up a quarter-final meeting with Dominic Thiem. Nadal had no such troubles as he dominated Kyrgios to beat the Australian in just over an hour.
The 14-time Grand Slam champion had a slice of fortune as a let cord and a Kyrgios double fault handed him the two breaks he needed to take the first set.
However, Kyrgios showed little resistence after being broken once more in the first game of the second set as he was whistled from at the end by Spanish fans unhappy at only seeing Nadal on court for 73 minutes. And he admitted to having a defeatist attitude from the start. Nadal faces David Goffin in Friday's quarter-finals after the Belgian beat world number six Milos Raonic 6-4, 6-2.
After suffering his own struggles of late, Djokovic was encouraged by his display in seeing off Lopez and a partisan crowd to reach the last eight.
Djokovic faces a much tougher test on Friday against world number eight Kei Nishikori, who earlier swept aside David Ferrer 6-4, 6-3.
However, Nishikori has only won two of their previous 13 meetings. Thiem saved five match points to edge out Grigor Dimitrov a thrilling third set tie-break 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (11/9).
Twenty-year-old German Alexander Zverev continued his fine form with a 6-4, 6-4 win over 11th seed Tomas Berdych to set up a quarter-final against Pablo Cuevas, who beat Benoit Paire 7-5, 0-6, 6-1. In the women's Madrid Open, third seed Simona Halep remains on course to defend her title as she thrashed American Coco Vandeweghe 6-1, 6-1.
Halep faces Latvian Anastasija Sevastova in Friday's semi-finals after the world number 22 saw off Kiki Bertens 6-3, 6-3.

Nadal, Djokovic march on in Madrid

Coric sends Murray packing

AFP, MADRID: World number one Andy Murrays slump in form continued as he crashed out of the Madrid Masters third round 6-3, 6-3 to lucky loser Borna Coric on Thursday. Rafael Nadal extended his flawless record on clay this season to 12-0 with a 6-3, 6-1 destruction of Nick Kyrgios. And defending champion Novak Djokovic also eased into the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Feliciano Lopez. Coric was only handed a late reprieve to enter the draw in Madrid after losing in qualifying to Mikhail Kukushkin. After one match of the quallies where I lost and I was booking my flight back to home, said Coric. However, Murray cut a frustrated figure as he was swept aside by the 20-year-old Croatian for the second time in the pairs four meetings. Coric broke the fragile Murray serve three times in the first set under the roof at the Manolo Santana centre court due to rain in the Spanish capital. And one poor service game from the Wimbledon champion cost him dear in the second as Coric served out for the match to set up a quarter-final meeting with Dominic Thiem. Nadal had no such troubles as he dominated Kyrgios to beat the Australian in just over an hour. The 14-time Grand Slam champion had a slice of fortune as a let cord and a Kyrgios double fault handed him the two breaks he needed to take the first set. However, Kyrgios showed little resistence after being broken once more in the first game of the second set as he was whistled from at the end by Spanish fans unhappy at only seeing Nadal on court for 73 minutes. And he admitted to having a defeatist attitude from the start. Nadal faces David Goffin in Fridays quarter-finals after the Belgian beat world number six Milos Raonic 6-4, 6-2. After suffering his own struggles of late, Djokovic was encouraged by his display in seeing off Lopez and a partisan crowd to reach the last eight. Djokovic faces a much tougher test on Friday against world number eight Kei Nishikori, who earlier swept aside David Ferrer 6-4, 6-3. However, Nishikori has only won two of their previous 13 meetings. Thiem saved five match points to edge out Grigor Dimitrov a thrilling third set tie-break 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (11/9). Twenty-year-old German Alexander Zverev continued his fine form with a 6-4, 6-4 win over 11th seed Tomas Berdych to set up a quarter-final against Pablo Cuevas, who beat Benoit Paire 7-5, 0-6, 6-1. In the womens Madrid Open, third seed Simona Halep remains on course to defend her title as she thrashed American Coco Vandeweghe 6-1, 6-1. Halep faces Latvian Anastasija Sevastova in Fridays semi-finals after the world number 22 saw off Kiki Bertens 6-3, 6-3.