American Mardy Fish, the eighth seed, beat South Africa's Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-3 in the third round of the Miami Masters on Monday.
On the women's side second seed Maria Sharapova made the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 7-6(3) fourth-round win over Ekatrina Makarova.
Easy win
On Sunday, second seed Rafael Nadal stormed into the fourth round beating Radek Stepanek 6-2, 6-2.
The World No.2 has lost just six games in two matches as he progresses through the field at the event where he has played three finals, but gone no further.
“I've had a good, solid start to the tournament; two good matches and comfortable wins,” the Spaniard said. “I'm so happy to be in the fourth round.”
Fourth seed Andy Murray, who advanced without firing a shot as Canadian opponent Milos Raonic withdrew before their match with an ankle injury, will face his next test against French 13th seed Gilles Simon, who beat Austrian Juergen Melzer 7-6(5), 6-4.
French sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4, 7-6(2).
Japan's 16th seed Kei Nishikori continued to roll with a win over Lukas Rosol 6-4, 6-2.
In the WTA event, top seed Victoria Azarenka raced easily to her 25th win of the season without a loss, crushing Brit Heather Watson 6-0, 6-2. Polish fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska dispatched Spain's Silvia Soler-Espinosa 6-1, 6-2.
Ivanovic advances
Former World No.1 Ana Ivanovic beat Slovak Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 7-6(2), showing no signs of a hip flexor injury that forced her to quit a semifinal match in California last week against Maria Sharapova.
The Serb next plays three-time Miami winner Venus Williams, who needed almost three hours to overcome a fighting Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5).
Williams is playing an event for the first time since the US Open and managed to hang on in a match featuring 32 break points and 14 conversions.
World No. 65 Wozniak served for victory in the third set, but hit a return into the net. Williams finally prevailed in a tiebreaker.
“It was tough out there,” the seven-time Grand Slam champion said. “But also, it was made even tougher because she played well. I just kept coming back; I tried not to let anything discourage me today. I kept thinking about how I really needed to win this match, and get those ranking points (to qualify for the Olympics). I want to play well at the big tournaments.”
Important results :
Men: Third round : Mardy Fish bt Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-3.
Gilles Simon bt Jurgen Melzer 7-6(5), 6-4; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga bt Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4, 7-6(2); Kei Nishikori bt Lukas Rosol 6-4, 6-2; Rafael Nadal bt Radek Stepanek 6-2, 6-2; Florian Mayer bt John Isner 6-4, 6-2.
Women: Fourth round : Maria Sharapova bt Ekatrina Makarova 6-4, 7-6(3).
Third round: Maria Kirilenko bt Ksenia Pervak 6-2, 6-1; Garbine Muguruza Blanco bt Flavia Pennetta 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(6); Venus Williams bt Aleksandra Wozniak 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5); Ana Ivanovic bt Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 7-6(2); Agnieszka Radwanska bt Silvia Soler-Espinosa 6-1, 6-2; Victoria Azarenka bt Heather Watson 6-0, 6-2.
