Miami: Radwanska turns back clock with Halep upset

Agnieszka Radwanska moved through to the fourth round of the Miami Open with a come-from-behind win over in-form world No.1 Simona Halep.

Radwanska, a Miami champion in 2012, beat the Romanian 3-6 6-2 6-3 to edge ahead 6-5 in their head-to-head series.

“Of course, I’m so happy, especially (given) she’s playing great tennis in the last couple of months,” Radwanska said.

“A win like this always makes you so happy.

“I didn’t rally start well, a lot of mistakes and I think I wasn’t aggressive enough. And suddenly the first set slipped away pretty quickly … third set was pretty tight. Game by game, point by point. A lot of nice shots, from her as well. So I really enjoyed that match.”

It was the first time the former world No.2 had beaten a top-five opponent since she defeated then-world No.5 Karolina Pliskova at Singapore’s WTA Finals in October 2016.

Since then, foot injuries, viral illness and a nosedive in form wreaked havoc with her 2017 season and saw the Pole slump outside the world’s top 30.

Until turning a corner this week in Miami, her 2018 win-loss record was a lacklustre 7-6. Halep’s record in 2018 was, conversely, an impressive 19-2 before Saturday’s loss.

#30 Aga Radwanska beats #1 Simona Halep in the Miami R3.

Big win for Radwanska:

First top-5 win since Singapore 2016
First non-Singapore top-5 win since Indian Wells 2014
First win over a #1 since Sydney 2012 (2-17 overall vs #1)

— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) March 24, 2018

She’ll next face Victoria Azarenka after the wildcard beat 20th seed Anastasia Sevastova 3-6 6-4 6-1.

Azarenka’s wildcard denotation is perhaps misleading; the Belarusian is a two-time major champion and former world No.1 who needed the wildcard to enter the tournament due to her recent inactivity.

She enters the fourth-round match with Radwanska leading their head-to-head series 12-5, although Radwanska has won the last two.

They haven’t played since 2014.

Also advancing to the last 16 in Miami was 10th seed Angelique Kerber, who notched a tour-leading 20th victory thanks to a straight-sets victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Kerber trailed the Russian 3-1 in the second set before recovering to post a 6-4 6-4 triumph.

Kerber notched her first win over Pavlyuchenkova in more than two years, having lost all three of their meetings in 2017.

She next faces Chinese qualifier Wang Yafan for a place in the quarterfinals.

Also advancing on Saturday was fifth seed Karolina Pliskova – who survived Hsieh Su-Wei 6-4 1-6 7-6(4) – and unseeded Kazakh Zarina Diyas.

Sloane Stephens later got past an injured Monica Niculescu after the Romanian retired when trailing 4-0 in the third set.

In the last match of the evening session, third seed Garbine Muguruza demolished Christina McHale 6-2 6-1 to set up a stoush with Stephens.

That match will pit the reigning Wimbledon champion (Muguruza) against the reigning US Open winner (Stephens).