The world number eight, struggled physically and needed medical treatment during the second set, said that he was likely suffering from a lingering bronchial infection.
Roddick was broken in the seventh game as 67th-ranked Cuevas took charge and although he battled on in a tight second set, he looked sluggish and bowed out in the tiebreak with consecutive forehand errors. Number one seed Rafael Nadal had no such problems, however, and was satisfied with his 6-4, 6-4 win over Kei Nishikori of Japan.
Leading 2-1 in the first set, Nishikori failed to convert on two break opportunities and Nadal promptly broke the Japanese player in the ensuing game. In the eighth game, Nishikori again failed to convert on two break points.
Nadal broke Nishikori in the opening game of the second set and held serve to close out the match. Third seed Roger Federer also advanced, enjoying a routine 6-3, 6-3 win over Czech Radek Stepanek earlier on Saturday. The victory took Federer alongside Pete Sampras with 762 career wins, equal seventh overall. Jimmy Connors tops the list with 1,241 wins.
“It’s a funny stat,” the Swiss said. “But it shows how long I have been around already, how much I’ve won all around the world and on all the different surfaces.” Federer, seeking his third Miami title, was ruthless, converting all three of his break point chances.
Bopanna-Qureshi win
Rohan Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi warded off late resistance from the German-American pair of Philipp Kohlschreiber and Rajeev Ram to enter the pre-quarterfinals in the doubles event.
The seventh-seeded Indo-Pakistani pair beat unseeded rivals 6-3, 7-6 (7-5).
Bopanna and Qureshi will next face the Slovak-Belarussian pair of Michal Mertinak and Dick Norman. Bopanna and Qureshi frittered away four break points in the opening set itself but managed to convert one against their rivals’ none to get the edge.
The second set was a closer battle but Mertinak and Norman once again wasted opportunities they got converting just one of the seven break points they earned.