Roger Federer won his 101st title at the Miami Open beating an injured John Isner 6-1, 6-4. Federer broke Isner right away at the start of the match and continued dominating as Isner battled a foot injury throughout the match. It was Federer’s fourth Master’s title in Miami.
“Roger, you were entirely too good today,” Isner said during the trophy presentation ceremony. “You were entirely too good this whole tournament. You were entirely too good your whole career. It’s absolutely incredible what you’re doing. We’re so lucky to have you and we want you to keep playing and literally never retire.”
Federer reminded fans that he has been coming to Miami for a long time. “Its been a super long journey for me here,” Federer said. “My first wild card was here, my first final in 2002 against (Andre) Agassi. I won the junior world title in 1998 at Key Biscayne, and played juniors in Flamingo Park. Miami’s always been important to me. To stand here now really means a lot.”
Ashleigh Barty claimed the biggest victory of her singles career, defeating Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 to win the Miami Open title. With this win, the Aussie will move into the top 10 in the new WTA rankings.
“It’s been an amazing fortnight of tennis. It really has,” said Barty. “I think it’s pretty cool to have played such a good match today, obviously in a big situation and a big match. Certainly proud of myself and happy the way that my team and I have been able to get through these two weeks.”
“I think I have always tried to bring as much variety onto the court as possible. Yeah, I felt, for me, it’s always about sometimes trying to neutralize what your opponent’s doing,” Barty told press at Miami. “Obviously there was a bit of a phase in women’s tennis where there was this big power and strikers that were getting on top of rallies early.
