US Open champion Sloane Stephens continued her return to form with victory over Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza in the fourth round of the Miami Open.
The American, who only ended a five-month winless run in February, came through 6-3 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals.
Later on Monday in Miami, comeback queen Victoria Azarenka and the ageless Venus Williams joined Stephens in the last eight after notching victories in contrasting styles.
Third seed Muguruza struggled to find her range, ending the match with 32 unforced errors and winning a desperate 29% of points on second serve.
“After Australia I took the time to get myself together and when you put in the work, you are able to get some results,” said Stephens.
Stephens goes on to face German 10th seed Angelique Kerber, a 6-7(1) 7-6(5) 6-3 winner over world No.125 Wang Yafan.
Fourth seed Elina Svitolina beat Australia’s Ash Barty 7-5 6-4, and fifth seed Karolina Pliskova made progress after Zarina Diyas was forced to retire injured while trailing 6-2 2-1.
Next up for Pliskova is Azarenka, who continued her impressive run at Crandon Park by crushing 30th seed Agnieszka Radwanska for the loss of just four games.
Radwanska came into the match having beaten world No.1 Simona Halep in the previous round, and having won her past two encounters against the Belarusian.
Yet Azarenka completely overwhelmed the Pole, winning 6-2 6-2 to notch her third straight victory over a seeded opponent.
You guys… these WTA quarterfinals are going to be incredible. What an absolutely loaded lineup.
— Jeff Donaldson (@jddtennis) March 26, 2018
“Today I feel like a played really high quality of tennis,” said Azarenka, a three-time champion at Key Biscayne.
“I kept my errors down and I really went for my shots and constructed the points really well, and was really aggressive – that’s what I needed to do today. And my game plan worked.
“I’m just really enjoying it, playing and being out here, match by match and continuing to improve, because that’s what’s important for me right now, is progress.”
Azarenka is playing just her second event after an eight-month layoff due to a custody dispute preventing her from travelling with her son outside of California.
She extended her winning record over Radwanska to 13-5.
Around the same time on Stadium court, Williams gained revenged on defending champion Johanna Konta, who beat the American at the semifinal stage of last year’s tournament.
Twelve months on, Williams recovered to post a 5-7 6-1 6-2 victory over the Brit, who surrendered with a backhand into the net – her 47th and final unforced error of the match.
She does it again!?@VenusesWilliams comes back and advances to @MiamiOpen quarterfinals!
Defeats defending champ Konta 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 pic.twitter.com/CkqYyvk0XK
— WTA (@WTA) March 26, 2018
In the quarterfinal, Venus will take on compatriot Danielle Collins after the qualifier got past 2016 Olympic champion Monica Puig in three sets.
In the last match of the day’s play, No.6 seed Jelena Ostapenko got past No.9 seed Petra Kvitova in a rain-affected battle that finished at 1am local time.
Ostapenko, the reigning French Open champion, will take on Svitolina for a place in the semifinals.
20 December 2017
It's amazing how little has changed in 14 years.In 2003, Serena Williams beat a succession... More
23 March 2017
Think umpiring is an easy job? Think again. Because umpire's don't just have to keep an ey... More
18 January 2016
Shot charts are critical in understanding a player’s on court behaviour. They have becom... More
30 December 2019
Nick Kyrgios’ first-round win over Andrey Rublev at last year’s Kremlin Cup in Moscow ... More
© 2024 Tennis Australia