After a first round bye, Richard defated Olivier Rochus in the second round of Miami 7-5 6-2. His next opponent will be Mikhael Youzhny.
The start looked promising, Richard broke Rochus in the second game for a 2-0 lead, but could not hold on to his serve which remained a liability throughout the first set. The Belgian broke in the 7th game, but could not keep his lead either. Richard managed to achieve the rebreak straight away and at 6-5*, Richard could force Rochus into errors for a 7-5 lead. The second set was very different, Richard stabilised his first serve with four aces in the first game and from that moment on, everything went better. Better serving (100 % points with the first serve) and more aggression overall brought him a 7-5 6-2 victory.