Sabalenka eases past defending champ Collins to reach last eight in Miami
Aryna Sabalenka defeated Danielle Collins 6-4, 6-4 on Monday. She’ll face Chinese Qinwen Zheng, the No 9 seed, next
Julien Nouet/Tennis Majors
Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, the top seed, defeated American Danielle Collins, the No 14 seed, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals of the Miami Open at the Hard Rock Stadium on Monday.
Sabalenka hit seven aces and faced only one break point during the 79-minute-long battle, breaking Collins thrice with a 43 percent average on the first-serve return.
“I’m super happy to get this win in straight sets and happy with the level I played today,” Sabalenka told the press later. “She’s a tough opponent, and we had a lot of tough and tricky matches in the past. So was very happy to get through this match.
“I’m super happy with the way I’m serving right now, and I think against Danielle I served really smart. At some moment I was just going as hard as possible, and I was making those faces, but mostly I think it was pretty smart serving from me. Yeah, I’m happy to see my serve back.”
Sabalenka, ranked No 1, will face Chinese Zheng Qinwen, the No 9 seed, next.
The Belarusian won against Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova (6-3, 6-0) and Romanian qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse (6-1, 0-0 ret.) ahead of her victory.
Earlier in the tournament, Collins, ranked No 15, beat Romanian Sorana Cirstea (6-4, 7-6 (3)) and Swiss qualifier Rebeka Masarova (6-4, 3-6, 6-3).
Miami WTA 1000, other last 16 results (Hard Rock Stadium, hard, USD 8.963.700, most recent results first):
- Elina Svitolina vs. Iga Swiatek
- Alexandra Eala vs. Paula Badosa
- Marta Kostyuk vs. Jessica Pegula
- Coco Gauff vs. Magda Linette
- Emma Raducanu vs. Amanda Anisimova
- Qinwen Zheng beat Ashlyn Krueger: 6-2, 7-6 (3)
- Jasmine Paolini (6) beat Naomi Osaka: 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
