Novak Djokovic, it will come as no surprise, is going strong in the 2016 Miami Masters draw. The World No. 1, who won the Indian Wells event almost two weeks ago, is into the semifinals in dominant form and with a favorable semifinal match up.
Djokovic had a bye in the first round of the currently-running Miami event, but even when facing competition, there has not been a lot of resistance. Each match he has won in Miami has been in straight sets. Despite facing quality players in Dominic Thiem and Tomas Berdych, Djokovic has yet to be extended to a tiebreaker.
Up next in the semifinals, Djokovic will face a seemingly-improving David Goffin. The Belgian has been doing some big damage on tour of late as he made the Indian Wells semifinals a couple of weeks ago. During that tournament, he defeated both Marin Cilic and Stan Wawrinka. Furthermore, Goffin has recent Davis Cup wins over Cilic and Borna Coric.
In Miami, Goffin may have lucked out with Roger Federer‘s withdrawal (they shared a draw to the semis at one point). However, the Belgian trounced Viktor Troicki 6-1, 6-1 in the early rounds ahead of taking out Gilles Simon in the quarters. Although Goffin is very unlikely to beat Djokovic, the Belgian truly appears to be making his way toward the Top 10 on tour.
On the bottom half of the draw, both Nick Kyrgios and Kei Nishikori remain alive. Kyrgios eliminated Milos Raonic in straight sets, the Canadian probably tired having played so much tennis of late following his Indian Wells runnerup run. Nishikori was extended to a third-set tiebreaker in his quarterfinal against Gael Monfils, but the Frenchman has put together a nice start to the 2016 season.
Nishikori, who is now the only player left in the tournament with a career win over Djokovic, does not have an extensive history against Kyrgios. The Japan No. 1 won the only match that they played against one another, one that was played in the Shanghai Masters last season. But even with the limited head-to-head series, Nishikori is a more-proven talent, and he does look good to make the Miami final.
There is potential historical significance with the 2016 Miami Masters final. If Djokovic should go on to win the title, then he would become the new leader in Masters Series 1000 titles. Currently, he is tied with Rafael Nadal at 27, but it’s only a couple match wins for the Serb to eclipse the Spaniard’s mark and claim the record for himself.