Aryna Sabalenka and Jasmine Paolini had an easy day at the Miami Open presented by Itaú on Saturday when their opponents, Elena-Gabriela Ruse and Ons Jabeur, retired from their matches, while Coco Gauff and Zheng Qinwen both advanced with straight set wins, and defending champion Danielle Collins and Naomi Osaka went the distance.
I think it was just one of those things, that you would like to play the exact same way, so you can replicate the same result. But, you know, any smart person isn’t going to play you the exact same way as they did two weeks ago after a loss. And she didn’t. She played different. I do think she played better today. I also think I played better than Indian Wells, so I think that was the difference.
Coco Gauff
Ruse had to retire with a right thigh injury with the score standing at 6-1 in the top seed’s favour, and Jabeur pulled out with a left leg issue while trailing 3-4 in her opening set.
“I feel so bad for her. I wish her a speedy recovery. She’s such a fighter,” Sabalenka said in her on-court interview. “I hope she gets well soon.
“Tough to say anything about this match. Just thank you guys for coming and supporting. I love all those posters and T-shirts.”
Sabalenka arrived in Miami fresh off a loss in last week’s Indian Wells final to Mirra Andreeva and is eying a WTA 1000 title here in Miami.
Up next for the 3-time Grand Slam champion is the defending Miami Open champion, Danielle Collins, who fought her way past Swiss qualifier Rebeka Masarova, 6-4 3-6 6-3, later on Day 5.
Collins won her 9th straight match on her home turf of southern Florida, but she needed to go the distance before closing out Masarova on Saturday night.
The 14th seed dropped her first set at this event since her 1st-round match last year, but the Floridian regrouped successfully to pick up the win after 2 hours and 25 minutes.
3rd seed Coco Gauff defeated Maria Sakkari, the No 28 seed, to reach the Last 16 at the Miami Open on Saturday
Earlier, 3rd seed Coco Gauff also progressed into the Last 16, with a 6-2 6-4 win over Greece’s Maria Sakkari, who was seeded at No 28.
The American double-bagelled her compatriot Sofia Kenin in 47 minutes on Thursday, but her longtime Greek adversary provided substantially more resistance on Saturday.
After their 10th career meeting, their head-to-head record is now even at 5-all.
Gauff is trying to set aside her opening gambit, in which she did not drop a game.
“I knew it wasn’t going to go as smoothly,” she told reporters. “I didn’t want to think about it, because this is a one-every-couple-years type occurrence. I was just trying to put that match in the past, and focus on today.”
The same was true of her recent 7-6(1) 6-2 win over Sakkari at Indian Wells in the California desert.
“I think it was just one of those things, that you would like to play the exact same way, so you can replicate the same result,” Gauff said. “But, you know, any smart person isn’t going to play you the exact same way as they did two weeks ago after a loss. And she didn’t. She played different.”
“I do think she played better today. I also think I played better than Indian Wells, so I think that was the difference.”
Gauff, who recently turned 21, is the youngest player to reach back-to-back rounds of 16 at the Miami Open since Garbiñe Muguruza in 2012-2013, and she now has equalled her best result here, in 2022 and 2024.
For Sakkari, a missed overhead on match point was another setback in a series of recent disappointments.
A Top 10 player as recently as last September, Sakkari is now at No 51 in rankings, and, after defeating Lucia Bronzetti in her opening match, the Greek was looking to win consecutive matches for the first time since the Olympics in Paris last year, and, for the first time, on a hard court since the Miami Open last season.
She also has lost 12 of her past 13 meetings against Top 10 players.
For a place in the quarter-finals, Gauff moves on to play Poland’s Magda Linette on Monday, who held off Czech qualifier Linda Fruhvirtova, 7-5 6-4.
Zheng Qinwen, the 9th seed, beat qualifier Taylor Townsend to set up a Last 16 meeting with Ashlyn Krueger on Monday in Miami
China’s Zheng Qinwen, the 9th seed, staved off a second-set surge by American qualifier Taylor Townsend in the night session at the Hard Rock Stadium, prevailing 6-1 7-6(3) to set up a Last 16 meeting with Ashlyn Krueger, her 3rd straight American opponent of the week, after Lauren Davis and Townsend.
The 22-year old Olympic Gold medalist showcased her powerful game, winning 80% of her service points and converting 2 out of 3 break points, completing the match in just 77 minutes.
Townsend struggled to cope with the power and precision of the 9th seed’s serve, managing to win only 11 of the 55 return points.
20-year old Ashlyn Krueger upset 26th-seeded Leylah Fernandez in the 3rd-round on Saturday in Miami
Zheng’s next challenge will come on Monday against Krueger, who secured a straight sets win over Canada’s 26th seed Leylah Fernandez in their 3rd-round match, 6-1 7-5.
The 20-year-old American equalled her career-best result at a WTA 1000, going back to Toronto last year.
Krueger also notched her 7th Top 30 win of the year, which is one more than she had going into the season. Only Madison Keys, Mirra Andreeva, and Iga Swiatek have more.
The American’s big strokes were again on display against Fernandez, and her serve was not broken, while only McCartney Kessler (84) and Hailey Baptiste (78) have amassed more winners than her total of 69.
Krueger has beaten Renata Zarazua from Mexico, No 7 seed and former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, and now Fernandez, who was a 2021 US Open finalist.
“Yeah,” Krueger said later when asked if her wins were beginning to feel normal. “I mean, every match I’m not thinking about who I’m playing exactly – what they’ve done.
“The winning is nice, and it means that everything I’m putting in off the court is working.”
Krueger was a double winner on Saturday, teaming with Jessica Pegula to come back and defeat Anna Danilina & Irina Khromacheva, 2-6 6-3 [10-7].
Former World No 1 Naomi Osaka battled her way past wild-card Hailey Baptiste in 3 seconds short of 3 hours at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on Saturday night
Meanwhile, Naomi Osaka had to dig deep and long to overcome American wild-card Hailey Baptiste, 7-6(6) 3-6 6-4, in the longest women’s match of the tournament.
After returning from a 15-month maternity break, Japan’s former World No 1 has been struggling to find consistent form.
When she left the Hologic WTA Tour in the autumn of 2022, Osaka was ranked in the mid-40s and playing something less than the sublime tennis that won her 4 Grand Slam singles titles.
“For me it’s really hard because last year I was coming back from not even being in my greatest form – does that make sense?” Osaka told reporters. “When I stopped playing, I didn’t really have the fight in me anymore.
“I think a big basis of my game is fighting and just trying to stay as mentally strong as I can.”
Last year, I had some good matches, but there were other matches where I felt, like, since I didn’t play perfect, it was really difficult to win, and I just couldn’t get over that hump.”
She found herself in another dog-fight on Saturday night facing Baptiste but found her way through after 2 hours, 59 minutes, and 57 seconds.
“This year I’ve played already a couple scrappy matches,” Osaka said. “I think the fight kind of got me over it. Then I realized, like, you need to play a lot of matches like that to be, I guess, one of the great ones.
“So I’m hoping that I can continue.”
The No 98-ranked Baptiste was up a break, serving at 4-3 in the third set when Osaka converted her 3rd break point.
After holding to love, Osaka broke Baptiste for the 5th time, finishing with 13 aces. With Baptiste’s 9 aces, the two combined for 22 aces all told, which is the most in any women’s match here so far.
At times, though, when Osaka lost her composure, she tossed her racket in frustration.
“But I also feel, like, I was trying to be really positive and really vocal,” Osaka said. “So I might have been a little annoying to her on that end, too. But I felt like I needed to do that to, I guess, push myself to continue.”
“I feel fine right now,” she added, referring to the physicality of the match. “I’m not sure about tomorrow morning. But I also feel like I’ve built up a pretty good tolerance and fitness. I think while I was playing, I felt like I could play some more, so I feel like that’s a good sign.”
Osaka’s 3rd match win here sets up a tantalizing Last 16 contest with Paolini, the Italian 6th seed, on Monday.
It will be the first time this season that the Japanese faces a Top 10 player, while a win would equal Osaka’s best result at a WTA 1000 since she returned from maternity leave.
The day’s first result came early, with Paolini advancing when Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur retired with a left leg injury while trailing 4-3.
“She’s such a great person, and to see her injured on the court,” Paolini said afterward. “Hope she’s going to be back soon.”
This was Paolini’s first win over a Top 30 player after 5 consecutive losses.
Last year, the diminutive Italian was a revelation, reaching the finals at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
“In Miami, it is [a surprise],” she said laughing. “Happy to be in the fourth round – never won two matches here.”
A third will be a big ask for Paolini, who knows exactly what to expect from Osaka, even though she has never played or practiced with her.
“I think, a fast match,” Paolini said. “I’m going to expect big serve, big return, and big shots, of course.
“I think I have to stay there every point, be solid and consistent. Not going to be easy because she’s playing so fast.”
