Miami Open: Sabalenka and Gauff win, Medvedev out, referee footage under scrutiny
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka performed well against Zheng Qinwen at the Miami Open and successfully advanced to the quarterfinals.
The defending champion defeated his Chinese opponent 6-3 6-4 in just 1 hour and 25 minutes.
Sabalenka, 27, has won the U.S. Open the past two years and looks calm. She will face Hailey Baptiste in the quarterfinals, where the U.S. also defeated Latvian Jelena Ostapenko 6-3 6-4.
Fourth seed Coco Gauff also advanced to the quarter-finals with a hard-fought victory over Romania’s Sorana Cistea 6-3 4-6 6-2.
The 22-year-old American double-faulted six times and was broken five times in a poor performance, but she was more than capable of winning the match and setting up a match against either Amanda Anisimova or Belinda Bencic.
The Miami Championship is Goff’s home event and she’s eager to win but won’t feel pressure to do so this year.
She competed in the event after retiring at Indian Wells earlier this month when nerve problems in her left arm caused her to withdraw from the third round.
“I didn’t really feel pressured, I felt more supported at this event,” she said.
“I really wanted to win this game because it was my home game. But I didn’t have the best preparation, so lowering my expectations allowed me to relax and not expect too much of myself.”
