Matt Wilansky, ESPN.com 9y

CiCi Bellis sizzles at the Miami Open

Tennis

MIAMI -- With the ubiquitous palm trees, warm temperatures and beautifully decorated grounds, it's virtually impossible not to enjoy Crandon Park on Key Biscayne, Florida, the home of the Miami Masters.  Sure, the causeway that connects Miami to the Keys can be a bottleneck mess, but that's the price of watching tennis in a world-class venue. 

Happy times, people. One player who was especially upbeat Friday was Rafael Nadal, a straight-sets winner against fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro. Nadal, who is searching for his first title here, had to fend off three break points in the opening set, but other than that, it was a seamless first match for the 14-time major champion. 

Rafa took care of his business, as did a few other top-tier stars. Here are five other things we learned:

1. Bellis gets her revenge

You might remember CiCi Bellis as the Cinderella story at last year's US Open. At the precocious age of 15, she stunned former Aussie Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova in the first round, garnering front-page headlines. Bellis' fairytale came to an end a match later, though, when Kazakhstan's Zarina Diyas beat the San Francisco native in three sets. Now seven months later, Bellis claims every aspect of her game has improved. On Friday, she smoked Diyas 6-2, 6-1 in just over an hour. Bellis explained the turnaround postmatch: "Well, this one I think I played a lot smarter. At the US Open I was really like caught up in, you know, all the kind of hype that was going on. But this one I was just really focused and played my game."

2. Querrey fails to convert

Combined, Sam Querrey and Kevin Anderson stand 13 feet, 1 inch high, but it was the South African who rose to the occasion Friday. Anderson beat Querrey in a chilling three-setter, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3), 6-4 to reach the third round. Querrey was up a break twice in the second set, including 6-5 when he was serving for the match, but couldn't hold. Querrey, who scorched 19 aces, was then immediately broken to open the third set, and that, as they say, was that.

3. Halep continues to roll

The journey from Indian Wells to Miami is well over 2,500 miles. In the itinerant world of tennis, it's not a huge undertaking to travel a mere three time zones, but still a tiring one. Clearly, Simona Halep hasn't been affected by cross-country expedition. She held off comeback kid Nicole Vaidisova 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 to reach the third round. Halep has now won 13 straight matches, including Indian Wells, and is a remarkable 22-2 on the season.

4. Azarenka too good for Jankovic

Unlike Halep, Jelena Jankovic couldn't keep her momentum from Indian Wells moving.  In a battle of former world No. 1's, Jankovic, who stumbled in the third set against Halep in last weekend's desert finale, suffered a listless 6-1, 6-1 defeat to Victoria Azarenka. The Belarusian is coming back from a foot injury that derailed her 2014 campaign. Unseeded, she concedes finding her way back to the top is a challenge but took an optimistic approach after her win: "I actually think it's a good thing for me to really play at this high level and go through tough opponents to really improve and get my game and match endurance in the important moments against tough opponents."

5. Murray makes quick work of Young

What player on the ATP Tour creates more news than Murray? It's a rhetorical question, because the answer is no one. Just this year alone, Murray has reaped attention for his ongoing coaching carousel, which now includes Jonas Bjorkman. The Scot also had to answer questions after he accused Novak Djokovic of gamesmanship in the Aussie Open final as well as defend his fianceé, Kim Sears, after she was caught spewing expletives Down Under. Despite all that, Murray has vaulted back to No. 4 in the world, and Friday, he hammered Donald Young 6-4, 6-2 behind a very effective first serve. Murray's draw looks fairly wide open; he wouldn't meet a top-10 player until a possible showdown with Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinals.

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