In 2009, Andy Murray had defeated Novak Djokovic in the Sony Open final.   In 2012, Djokovic returned the favor by knocking off the Scot for the Miami title.  In 2014, they met not in the final of the Sony Open but in a quarterfinal.  This surprisingly early date for a clash between two of the ATP Big Four stemmed from the drop in Murray’s ranking.  Having missed several months after back surgery last year, the Scot had regained his form only gradually during the early stages of 2014.

Murray has entered most of his matches against Djokovic as an underdog, but the odds were stacked even more against him than usual on Wednesday.  He had not defeated a top-10 opponent since his surgery, despite his steadily improving form.  Meanwhile, Djokovic sought his ninth consecutive victory in North America after winning the Masters 1000 tournament at Indian Wells two weeks ago. 

The clashes between these two rivals always feature plenty of long, physical rallies from the baseline.  Both men return serve brilliantly and cover the court better than virtually anyone else on the serve.  While solid on serve, Djokovic and Murray rarely unleash avalanches of aces.  Each man would need to work for his points by outmaneuvering his opponent and waiting patiently for the right moment to pull the trigger.

As expected, Murray faced the more significant pressure on serve early in the match.  While Djokovic held without much difficulty, the Scot needed to ward off break points in his second service game.  He found timely first serves that allowed him to take command of those points, and an exquisitely curled cross-court forehand pass salvaged the game.  But Murray could not parlay that boost of momentum into making headway on the Djokovic serve, bulletproof against break points until deep in the first set.

At that stage, the Serb seemed to suffer a miniature meltdown.  Serving at 5-5, 40-15, he netted a routine passing shot and then sprayed consecutive double faults.  An error from Murray spurned the chance to serve for the first set, however, and he soon suffered a meltdown of his own.  Normally his most dependable weapon, the Scot’s backhand deserted him when he most needed it at the end of the set.  Two straightforward errors handed Djokovic the set-ending break.   

For the first time since that Miami final two years ago, Djokovic had won the first set from Murray.  Handed that lead, surely the Serb would waste little time in capitalizing.  But Djokovic could not finish off his resilient rival so easily.  He dropped serve for the first time midway through the second set, giving Murray a chance to reassert himself.

It would be the last time that Djokovic dropped serve, and the last game that he would lose.  As the Serb tightened his focus, Murray’s consistency waned.  Djokovic reeled off the next four games to abruptly end the blockbuster quarterfinal at the Sony Open.  He likely will face Roger Federer in a semifinal on Friday, although the Swiss star must conquer Kei Nishikori tonight.

Murray remains winless against the top 10 and without a finals appearance since winning Wimbledon last summer.  Still, he stood toe to toe with Djokovic for long stretches of this match and should feel that his recovery has progressed significantly if he can threaten the world No. 2.  The clay season usually offer Murray few rewards, but a positive end to his campaign on spring hard courts will have raised his confidence ahead of the grass.

A ninth straight win for Djokovic edges him within two victories of completing a second Indian Wells-Miami double, among the most challenging feats in tennis.  It will not come easily with world No. 1 Rafael Nadal possibly looming in the final if Djokovic defeats Federer on Friday.  But, if the Serb does achieve his second double in four years, he would have reasserted himself in style after a difficult start to his 2014 season.