Kvitova keeps No.1 hopes alive in Miami

Petra Kvitova has powered into the Miami Open third round, keeping her hopes of rising to No.1 alive.

The third-seeded Czech is one of four players who could overtake current world No.1 Naomi Osaka in Miami this fortnight. Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber and Elina Svitolina are the other players with a chance to rise to the top of the WTA rankings.

After a first-round bye, Kvitova made an impressive start to her Miami campaign. She defeated Greece’s Maria Sakkari 6-1 6-4, losing only 16 points on serve in the 69-minute match.

“I think I never play Maria before. Actually, we didn’t really practice, as well, so I didn’t really know what I should expect,” said Kvitova.

“Every time I play someone who you don’t know, it’s kind of different and you need some games to kind of find out what she’s playing and what she’s not. .. That’s I think that I did very well.”

Kvitova, who needs to reach the final in Miami to have a chance of becoming No.1, next faces No.26-seeded Croatian Donna Vekic, who posted a 6-3 6-3 win over Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo.

French No.19 seed Caroline Garcia defeated three-time champion Victoria Azarenka, scoring a 6-3 6-4 victory that will send the former world No.1 and last year’s semifinalist outside the top 50.

QUIZ: Do you know your WTA No.1s?

Sam Stosur can expect a rankings boost though, with the Australian moving into the third round after recording her first top-20 win since October 2017. The former world No.4, who is currently ranked No.83, defeated American Madison Keys in a see-sawing 6-4 4-6 6-4 battle.

Stosur now faces No.12 seed Ash Barty in an all-Australian showdown. Barty advanced to the third round with a 6-4 6-1 win over Dayana Yastremska.

Earlier in the day, teen Cori Gauff scored her first WTA main draw win. The 15-year-old wildcard defeated fellow American Catherine McNally 3-6 6-3 6-4. Gauff, who once played a young Serena Williams in a television commercial, becomes the youngest WTA match winner since Madison Keys a decade earlier.

Venus Williams, Whitney Osuigwe, and Cori Gauff all won their first-round matches on Thursday.

It was 15yo Gauff & 16yo Osuigwe's 1st WTA MD wins.

Venus made her @MiamiOpen debut in 1997, 7 years before Gauff was born. pic.twitter.com/AIxgVzM7Qn

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) March 22, 2019

Newly-crowned Indian Wells champion Bianca Andreescu extended her winning streak to eight matches – but it required a ginormous fight.

NEWS: Andreescu wins Indian Wells

The 18-year-old Canadian saved a match point, fighting back from a 1-5 deficit in the second set to score a 4-6 7-6(2) 6-2 first-round win over Irina-Camelia Begu.

“The harder the battle, the sweeter the victory. I have gained a lot of experience from today, but hopefully I don’t have to actually be down match point to win matches,” Andreescu told the WTA.

Other first-round winners included former champions Venus Williams and Johanna Konta.