World No. 1 Iga Swiatek defeated Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrovna 6-4, 6-2 in the fourth round of the Miami Open on Monday Ekaterina Alexandrova was eventually eliminated. No. 16 seed Alexandrova played brilliant attacking tennis from the start to beat the Pole and exit the WTA Championship without her top three seeds in the quarter-finals, Alina Sabalenka and Coco Gauff are also out. France’s Caroline Garcia defeated world No. 3 Gauff on Monday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Miami Open with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 win over the American. , while Aryna Sabalenka, ranked second in the world, was eliminated by Ukrainian player Anhelina Kalinina. Saturday.
After Alexandrova broke in the first game, Swiatek never looked comfortable and took control of the match with some excellent attacking tennis.
The Pole, who was hoping to become just the second woman to win the Sunshine Doubles after her victory in Indian Wells, created just one break point in the match, but Alexandrova saved it and converted in Leading 4-2 in the second set.
Swiatek had been confident of turning the tables in her last round match against Linda Noskova, but her Russian opponent was in no mood to make a mistake.
She was outstanding in the second set, breaking serve with a stunning cross-court return to take a 2-1 lead and finishing the match with 31 winners to Swiatek’s 11.
The match was the first time Swiatek had not broken serve since losing to Ash Barty in Adelaide in January 2022.
“Of course, I’m just disappointed because I thought I was going to play better in Miami. But she had a great game and was definitely a better game today,” the 22-year-old said . Second Grand Slam winner.
Swiatek said she struggled to read Alexandrova’s serve but felt she wasn’t doing her best in the match.
“I feel like I can’t play in a natural way, but I don’t always feel comfortable on the court. I think I can work around that,” she said.
Alexandrova laughed off suggestions that she played a perfect game, but she certainly didn’t downplay her performance.
“It was a great match for me, in terms of consistency, serve, return, baseline play, I thought it was all very good and I hope I can keep it up in the next match,” she says.
She also reached the quarterfinals in Miami last year and will next play No. 5 seed Jessica Pegula on Wednesday.
Garcia, who defeated four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka in straight sets on Sunday, continued her excellent form to beat Gauff in one hour and 43 minutes at home.
‘A tragic loss’
After a thrilling encounter that featured ups and downs, world No. 27 Garcia faced the winner of Monday’s match between Romania’s Sorana Sistia and American Danielle Collins in the quarterfinals. .
The victory was Garcia’s first against a top-10 opponent since late 2022 and her third career victory over Goff (3-2), whom she also defeated at the 2022 U.S. Open.
“It was definitely a great match and a great win for me. The last few months have not been easy. Of course today, after yesterday’s match, it means a lot. It was great tennis,” she says.
Goff, who is from South Florida, was disappointed not to progress further in front of his home crowd.
“It was a tough loss,” she said. “It was basically an up-and-down game. She was playing aggressive, and I knew that, and I thought changing the height of the ball was really important for me.
“I was doing really well for most of the second set. And then breaking early at the beginning of the third set I think completely changed the momentum,” the American added.
Fourth seed Elena Rybakina defeated American Madison Keys 6-3, 7-5 to set up a quarterfinal matchup with Greece’s Maria Sakkari.
Sakkari advanced easily after Anna Kalinskaya had to withdraw before Monday’s game with a right thigh injury.
Victoria Azarenka also advanced with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Britain’s Katie Boulter.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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