World No. 1 Iga Swiatek kept her nerve at the WTA Miami Open on Sunday, defeating No. 26 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 6-4. Czech player Linda Noskova. A day after Swiatek’s closest challenger Aryna Sabalenka was eliminated from the tournament, the Pole faced the real test in Noskova. The Czech defeated Swiatek in the third round of the Australian Open before the four-time Grand Slam winner got revenge in Indian Wells. Not surprisingly, the pair’s third meeting of the year was tense.
Swiatek struggled to recover from a first-set tiebreak loss and take the match into the decider, but while serving for a 5-4 lead, she found herself facing three break points.
But she stepped up her game, winning the next five points and pumping her fist into her box in celebration.
“It hasn’t been easy. There’s been a lot of ups and downs,” Swiatek said. “I’m glad that after the first set I had a better idea of what to do and I just tried to do that in the big moments. Sometimes we get games like this where we need to figure out how to end the game anyway. “
Swiatek, who hopes to become just the second woman to win the Sunshine Doubles in Indian Wells and Miami, will face 14th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the round of 16 on Monday. Alexandrova defeated fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to advance.
France’s Caroline Garcia defeated Naomi Osaka 7-6 (7/4), 7-5 on Sunday to advance to the fourth round to face world No. 3 Coco ·Coco Gauff.
It was an intense match with 28 aces between the two, with Osaka fighting hard in the first set and saving three set points to advance to the tie-break.
Garcia sealed the tie-break with a forehand winner, but found herself trailing 2-4 against Osaka in the second game before breaking serve.
With Osaka’s serve tied at five, Garcia forced two break points and broke the second one successfully.
Defending U.S. Open champion Gauff trailed French player Oan Dodin 2-4 in the first set before winning 10 consecutive games and winning 6-4, 6-0.
Goff said she expected the matchup with Garcia to be tough.
“She’s tough. We all know the way she plays. Gets the ball very early, plays very aggressively,” she said.
Fifth-seeded American Jessica Pegula defeated Canadian Leila Fernandez 7-5, 6-4 and will face in-form compatriot Emma Navarro in the fourth round.
Fernandez broke serve to lead 5-3 in the first set, but Pegula responded perfectly, winning four consecutive games to take the first set.
In the second set, both sides were in trouble holding serve. They were in a reverse serve state in the first seven games, but Pegula finally held serve to lead 5-3. She kept her love in the last game to seal the victory.
Pegula plays Navarro
Pegula, the top-ranked woman in the United States, will face the rising star of American women’s tennis in Navarro, who defeated 12th-seeded Jasmine Paolini of Italy 6-2, 3-6, 6-0.
Paolini, who won the WTA 1000 series title in Dubai earlier this year, faded after fighting back in the second set, while Navarro confirmed her status as one of the most improved players on tour.
Navarro won her 20th match of the season, a record only surpassed by Swiatek, and is enjoying the most successful season of her career, winning her first WTA title in Hobart in January. .
Pegula said the belief that comes with such a series of results will make her a difficult opponent.
“The feeling of winning a lot of games, it’s really hard to beat people like that, and even if you do beat them it’s never easy,” she said.
“Considering she’s probably one of the hottest players on the tour right now, it’s going to be a really good test for me to see where I’m at.”
Gauff was impressed by the rise of the No. 20 seed.
“Honestly, I’m not surprised she’s in the top 20. I would say (more) maybe how soon,” Goff said.
“She’s a great athlete. She’s a very smart player and she causes problems for top players. She’s not someone you want to see early in the game.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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