KEY BISCAYNE (Florida): Before the first set ended on Tuesday, Novak Djokovic had busted a racket in anger, drawn jeers from the crowd and received two code violations, which cost him a point penalty.

There were no further outbursts, and as Djokovic’s play improved, so did his mood. He rallied from a break down in the second set and beat Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-7 (3-7), 7-5, 6-0, salvaging hopes of defending his Miami Open title.

“The first set and a half, he was dominating from the baseline,” Djokovic said. “I was frustrated and nervous and wasn’t showing composure on the court.”

Dolgopolov led 4-1 in the second set before world number one Djokovic mounted a comeback, winning 24 of the last 27 points, to remain in contention for his fifth Key Biscayne title and reach a quarter-final against Spanish sixth seed David Ferrer, a 7-6 (7-5), 6-0 winner over Frenchman Gilles Simon.

Venus Williams’ recent resurgence stalled when she lost in the quarter-finals to 12th-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro 0-6, 6-1, 7-5. The 34-year-old Williams was broken six times in the final two sets and double-faulted twice in the final game.

“Too many errors, and I was going for it the whole match,” Venus said. “Toward the end, I just never found the happy medium between being aggressive and putting the ball in the court.”

Venus is a three-time Key Biscayne champion, but her most recent title came in 2001. Navarro, meanwhile, set up a semi-final clash with Germany’s ninth seed Andrea Petkovic who booked her place in the last four after a 6-4, 6-2 win over 14th-seeded Czech Karolina Pliskova.

With Rafael Nadal already eliminated and Roger Federer skipping the tournament, Djokovic’s most likely opponent in the final would be third seed Andy Murray, who became the ninth active man to win 500 matches by beating Kevin Anderson 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

The third-seeded Scotsman, who holds two Grand Slam titles, needed his best effort against his 17th-ranked rival and will face unseeded Austrian Dominic Thiem, who reached his first Masters 1000 series quarter-final after beating France’s Adrian Mannarino 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-5.

“I hope I’ve still got a lot more wins in me,” Murray said. “To get to 500 is good. It’s not an easy thing to do at my age. It’s nice. Hopefully I can keep going.”

Japan’s fourth seed Kei Nishikori beat Belgian David Goffin 6-1, 6-2 and next up for him will be American John Isner, who won a big-serve duel with Canada’s fifth-seeded Milos Raonic over two and three quarter hours 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5).

Czech Tomas Berdych made it six quarter-finals out of six tournaments this year after he advanced when Frenchman Gael Monfils retired in the second set after a bad fall and will next face Argentine Juan Monaco, a 6-3, 6-3 winner over Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.

Published in Dawn, April 2nd, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play