posted April 1, 2008 at 18:04 in Tennis Articles

Miami, Florida – At the close of the third round on the men’s side yesterday, the tournament received more mixed results as the final sixteen players were confirmed. Most significant was the outcome of the all-French affair between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Julien Benneteau. The 2008 Australian Open finalist Tsonga, (seeded twelfth) was favoured to advance, but the victory went surprisingly to the underdog Benneteau in straight sets 6-3, 6-3. Tsonga has been anxious to prove his Cinderella run in Melbourne was no fluke, but with another disappointing result at a major tournament (last week Tsonga fell to Nadal in the R16 at Indian Wells), the Frenchman is in danger of earning the label of a one-hit wonder.

Eighteenth seed Juan Monaco also joined the humbled line of seeds exiting the tournament early when he was topped by a resurgent (wild card entrant) Mario Ancic 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-1. Mario Ancic is a former Top 10 player, and his current rank (No.63 in the World) belies his talent. Next up for the Croatian is Nikolay Davydenko, and despite ranking well below the World No.4 Davydenko, Ancic is slightly favoured at -135 to advance into the next round.

The third round also featured some nigh-upsets as No.4 Nikolay Davydenko was forced to comeback from behind against Simone Boleilli, finally persevering with a 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-1 triumph. Davydenko cannot afford to lose his focus in his upcoming match, for in the Croatian Ancic, he will face stiff opposition and Ancic is a player who can take advantage of such an oversight.

Meanwhile, Thirteenth seed Mikhail Youzhny survived a second set hiccup to eke out Nicolas Almagro 7-6(4), 3-6, 7-6(6). The versatile Youzhny is set to contest his R16 match against Janko Tipsarevic, the Serbian who took Federer to five sets at the Australian Open. Although we have not seen Tipsarevic replicate his impressive performance against Federer since the Australian Open, this is another anticipated matchup in the R16 today. The bookies seem to favour the Serbian by the slightest of margins over the higher ranked Russian.

World No.1 Roger Federer took a step closer to winning his first title this year after he got a free pass into the R16, when Robin Soderling retired in the second set, down 6-4, 3-0. Next up for the Swiss maestro of tennis is Jose Acasuso of Argentina, the unseeded player who defeated Lleyton Hewitt in the second round.

Sixth seed Andy Roddick faced tough resistance from the last qualifier still alive in the tournament. The Czech qualifier Ivo Minar worried Roddick throughout the entire match, forcing the American to pull through the first set in a tiebreak and close the match with a narrow 6-4 score in the second set. Roddick will need to be a little more focused in his next match as he prepares to face Julien Benneteau. Benneteau topped his notorious compatriot Tsonga, so he should not be underestimated.

So as the tournament moves in the R16, the matchups set and the tennis odds currently live at BetUS, betting on this premier event in Miami could not be more exciting. Still here, what are you waiting for? Check out our tennis odds and start speculating on whom you think will advance to the quarterfinals at the Sony Ericsson Open.

Nila Amerova is a freelance sports writer and regular contributor to the BetUS.com Locker Room.