Top seeds Djokovic, Azarenka advance, Federer falls

MIAMI: Top seeds and defending champions Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka advanced Monday while third seed Roger Federer crashed out of the ATP/WTA Miami Masters tournament.

Djokovic defeated No. 27 seed Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-4 in an all-Serb third round matchup on Monday.

American Andy Roddick upset 16-time major winner Federer 7-6 (7/4), 1-6, 6-4, snapping the Swiss star's win streak at 16 matches.Tennis Results Today

The world number one Djokovic, who won Miami titles in 2007 and 2011, saved seven of eight break point opportunities as he beat Troicki for the 11th consecutive time.

Djokovic finished with two aces, one double fault and won 73 percent of his first-serve points in the 85 minute match.

Djokovic next plays 17th seed Richard Gasquet of France.

Azarenka survived a scare from 16th seeded Dominika Cibulkova, gutting out a 1-6, 7-6 (9/7), 7-5 victory in the fourth round Monday.

Cibulkova made Azarenka, of Belarus, work to protect her season long match win streak which now stands at 26.

World No. 1 Azarenka struggled in the first set then needed a tiebreaker in the second to get back into the marathon two hour, 47 minute match. She finished with two aces and seven double faults, compared to Cibulkova's 10 double faults.

Azarenka advances to face France's Marion Bartoli, who easily defeated Maria Kirilenko 6-1, 6-2 earlier in the day.

Roddick beat Federer for just the third time in 24 career meetings.

Roddick hammered 12 aces and won 74 percent of his first-serve points to outlast Federer in the two hour, one minute third round match.

After losing the first set tie-break, Federer broke Roddick three times to even the match at one-set all.

Roddick saved four break points to hold serve in his first service game of the final set.

Federer's 16-match win streak, included titles in Rotterdam, Dubai and Indian Wells.

World No. 2 Maria Sharapova defeated fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) to set up a quarter-final clash with China's Li Na.

Sharapova, the 2011 Miami runner-up, is chasing her first title at the event after finishing second three times. She lost in the final last year to Azarenka.

Sharapova saved break point 11 of 15 times and converted on five of eight of her break point opportunities to advance into a matchup against Li, who rallied to beat Sabine Lisicki 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

American 10th seed Serena Williams defeated Australian sixth seed Samantha Stosur 7-5, 6-3 in a rematch of the 2011 US Open final.

Qatar to host Asian Champion Trophy

Qatar will host Asian Champions Trophy hockey this year which expected to be held in the end of 2012.

Pakistan, India, Malaysia, South Korea, China and Japan will participate in the event, however the Asian Hockey Federation is yet to finalise the dates of the event.Hockey News

“This is a huge boost for Qatar and for the sport of hockey here. Conducting a major event like this will certainly increase the popularity of the sport,” Qatar Hockey Federation (QHF) Secretary-General Mohamed Nazer Abdul said.

“With plenty of Asian expatriates in Qatar, you can expect a full house and if there is an India-Pakistan clash, the euphoria can cross all levels,” Gulf Times quoted him as saying.

Federer suffers rare loss to Roddick

World number three Roger Federer was feeling the pace of his busy start to the year after suffering a surprise 7-6 1-6 6-4 defeat to Andy Roddick in the Sony Ericsson Open on Monday.

The third round loss to the American ended a 16-match winning streak for the Swiss, which included his titles in Rotterdam, Dubai and Indian Wells.

"I came out a bit flat today, I was a bit tired, I guess, but it was more mental than physical," the 16-times grand slam winner told reporters.Tennis News Latest

"That's maybe 30 matches for the season. I am just feeling like it's taken its toll a bit, which is normal," he said.

"But I've played more tired in the past, so this was not the most tired I have ever been, but you just start to feel it a bit. I didn't just get the lucky break today that I got in Indian Wells."

After sharing the opening two sets, Roddick saved three break points against his serve in the opening game of the decider, went on to break his opponent immediately and maintained the advantage through to the end of the match.

"I have been playing so much. I tried to push myself and gave myself a fighting chance, and then when things were under control, he fought off those break point chances... and had the perfect game after that," Federer added.

Roddick, who has slumped to 34th in the world, had his powerful forehand back to its best and was strong on serve, winning 69 percent of first service points.

The win was Roddick's first over a top three player since beating Novak Djokovic in Cincinnati in 2010 and his first against Federer since a 2008 win here at Key Biscayne.

"The game that I played for the break in the third set was one of the best return games I've ever played. I think I hit four forehand winners," the 2003 U.S. Open champion said.

The 29-year-old American said that despite the euphoria of victory the result needed to be kept in perspective.

"It would be a little presumptuous to go from people retiring me to all of a sudden talking about winning a Master's event. Let's take it for what it's worth.

"It probably wasn't as bad as it seemed two weeks ago and it's probably not all the way turned around because of one match".