World No. 1 Novak Djokovic advanced to the fourth round of the ATP and WTA Miami Open Sunday, defeating Portugal's 38th-ranked Joao Sousa 6-4, 6-1. Two-time defending champion Djokovic, trying to match Andre Agassi's record of six career Miami titles, needed only 78 minutes to win his 12th match in a row at the hardcourt event and 26th in his past 27 Miami starts. "That first set could have gone either way," Djokovic said. "I managed to hit the right balls at the right moment and make it to the finish." The 28-year-old Serbian, who won his 11th Grand Slam crown at the Australian Open two months ago, also has crowns at Doha and Indian Wells this year and hopes to complete the Miami-Indian Wells sweep for the third consecutive year. Djokovic's next foe will be Austrian 14th seed Dominic Thiem, who dispatched 124th-ranked Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka 6-2, 6-2 in 64 minutes. "He has one of the most powerful baseline games in tennis," Djokovic said of Thiem. Thiem captured his fifth career ATP title last month by beating Australia's Bernard Tomic in the Acapulco final and downed 14-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal on the way to a Buenos Aires claycourt crown. Reigning Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber and last week's Indian Wells winner Victoria Azarenka, who each upset world No. 1 Serena Williams in the final to win those titles, reached the last 16 on the women's side. German second seed Kerber advanced 1-6, 6-2, 3-0 when 108th-ranked Dutch qualifier Kiki Bertens retired due to illness. Kerber next faces Hungary's 49th-ranked Timea Babos, who ousted 18-year-old Japanese 104th-ranked wildcard Naomi Osaka 7-5, 6-0. Eighth-ranked Azarenka, a 26-year-old from Belrus who won 2009 and 2011 Miami titles, eliminated Polish qualifier Magda Linette 6-3, 6-0. She next faces last year's Wimbledon runner-up, Garbine Muguruza. The Spanish fourth seed ripped 74th-ranked US wildcard Nicole Gibbs 6-1, 6-0 in 55 minutes. Two-time Australian Open champion Azarenka is trying to become only the third woman to take Indian Wells and Miami in the same year after Graf in 1994 and 1996 and Kim Clijsters in 2005. Argentina's Horacio Zeballos, a lucky loser who replaced Roger Federer in the draw when the 17-time Grand Slam champion withdrew due to illness, advanced to the fourth round by overcoming Spain's Fernando Verdasco 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4). Zeballos, ranked 112th, faces Indian Wells semifinalist David Goffin for a quarterfinal berth. No. 7 Tomas Berdych erased all 10 break points he faced and defeated American Steve Johnson 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3. Johnson, seeded 31st, fell to 0-13 against top-10 opponents. Richard Gasquet, seeded 10th, beat No. 20 Benoit Paire in an all-French matchup, 6-3, 6-0. Jamie Murray on top Britain's Jamie Murray, the older brother of two-time Grand Slam singles champion Andy Murray, became the ATP doubles world No. 1 for the first time Sunday without even taking the court. Murray will move up from second in the next rankings to dethrone Brazil's Marcelo Melo after the South American and Croatian partner Ivan Dodig were beaten 7-6 (7-1), 6-4 by Filipino Treat Huey and Belarusian Max Mirnyi at the ATP and WTA Miami Open. — Agencies
