Fernando Verdasco of Spain shakes hands with Rafael Nadal after defeating the Spaniard in the third round on day 7 of the Miami Open at Crandon Park Tennis Center on Sunday in Key Biscayne, Florida.

Reuters/Miami

A struggling Rafa Nadal crashed out of the Miami Open in the third round on Sunday, losing 6-4 2-6 6-3 to fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.
The 31-year-old Verdasco, who is ranked 34th in the world, has now won two in a row from world number three Nadal dating back to 2012 at Madrid. Nadal had won their previous 13 meetings.
Verdasco caused problems from the outset and broke in the eighth game, helped by a double fault from Nadal.
Nadal battled back in the second set, breaking Verdasco twice and pushing the contest into a third set.
The contest turned decisively in Verdasco’s direction when he broke to go 3-1 up in the third set.
Nadal has never won in Miami, with his 11 attempts his longest streak of attempts at a tournament without a victory.
He struggled throughout converting just three of 12 break point chances and making a series of unforced errors.
In another upset, seventh seed Stan Wawrinka lost 7-6(4) 7-6(5) to 28th seeded Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.
Britain’s Andy Murray moved into the last 16 at the Miami Open after beating Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo 6-3 6-4 to move him within one win of 500 victories on the ATP Tour.
Murray would become just the ninth active player and only the 46th man in the open era to achieve the milestone should he defeat South African Kevin Anderson in the next round at Key Biscayne.
The Scot would also be the first British player to reach 500 wins in the open era.
“It’s nice, because when you see, the list of the players that have won that many matches, there aren’t loads,” said Murray.
“I obviously want to try and win more, and hopefully still have quite a few years ahead of me left to add to that number. But it’s a lot of wins. It’s not easy these days to win that many matches, so that’s a good sign.”
Murray’s latest win, in bright sunshine on stadium court, was a relatively straightforward matter although Giraldo’s free swinging approach in the second set brought the contest alive a bit.
Giraldo battled back from 5-1 down before Murray wrapped up the win in 84 minutes.

Serena and Halep advance, Azarenka falls to Pennetta

World number one Serena Williams comfortably beat 15-year-old CiCi Bellis 6-1 6-1 while Romanian third-seed Simona Halep and Italian Flavia Pennetta also progressed at the Miami Open on Sunday.
Williams, a seven-times winner at Miami, lost just eight points in the 12 games she won, with Californian Bellis holding serve just once in each set.
The 19-times grand slam winner said she had to put out of mind her admiration for Bellis, who is rated as one of the most promising young Americans. Bellis had beaten 29th seed Zarina Diyas on her way to the third round.
“She’s young, and her being an American and her just doing so well, you want to see people like her do well,” Williams said.
“So when you’re up against them, you have to kind of put that aside, even though I’m always cheering for her. But I have to put it aside and just play the match.
“If you break down her age and ability and how well she handled the moment, it was good.”
Williams will face Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round after the Russian upset 13th seed Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-3 3-6 6-3.
Romanian Halep, fresh from her title win at Indian Wells last week, beat Italy’s Camila Giori 6-4 7-5 to make the last 16 at Miami for the first time.
Halep won despite being broken when serving for the match at 5-4 up in the second.
The third-seed will face Italy’s Pennetta who defeated two-time Miami winner Victoria Azarenka 7-6(5) 7-6(6). Pennetta has won all three of their previous meetings.
RESULTS
Women: Third round: Simona Halep (ROM x3) bt Camila Giorgi (ITA x30) 6-4, 7-5 Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS x24) bt Angelique Kerber (GER x13) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 Serena Williams (USA x1) bt Catherine Bellis (USA) 6-1, 6-1 Sara Errani (ITA x11) bt Garbine Muguruza (ESP x21) 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 Flavia Pennetta (ITA x15) bt Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (8/6) Sloane Stephens (USA) bt Johanna Larsson (SWE) 6-4, 6-4 Belinda Bencic (SUI) bt Tatjana Malek (GER) 6-4, 7-5 Sabine Lisicki (GER x27) bt Ana Ivanovic (SRB) 7-6 (7/4), 7-5
Men: Third round: Kevin Anderson (RSA x15) bt Leonardo Mayer (ARG x24) 6-4, 6-4 Andy Murray (GBR x3) bt Santiago Giraldo (COL x27) 6-3, 6-4 Dominic Thiem (AUT) bt Jack Sock (USA) 6-4, 6-3 Adrian Mannarino (FRA x28) bt Stan Wawrinka (SUI x7) 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5) Gael Monfils (FRA x17) bt Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x11) 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) Fernando Verdasco (ESP x29) bt Rafael Nadal (ESP x2) 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 Tomas Berdych (CZE x8) bt Bernard Tomic (AUS) 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/3), 6-1 Juan Monaco (ARG) bt Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP x23) 7-5, 6-4