Marta Lavandier/Associated Press

Miami Open Masters 2021 Results: Madison Keys' Upset Highlights Thursday Results

Paul Kasabian

The Miami Open is in full swing this year after the tournament was canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the women's side, some of the game's biggest names took center stage in the round of 64, although a handful of them were nearly upset by some fierce challengers.

The men's side rolled through the remainder of the round of 128. The draw's premier players will begin taking the court Friday for the round of 64.

Here's a look at all the singles results from Thursday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, along with some of the day's notable storylines from the women's draw.

     

WTA Results (Singles): Round of 64

No. 1 Ashleigh Barty def. Kristina Kucova: 6-3, 4-6, 7-5

No. 3 Simona Halep def. Caroline Garcia: 3-6, 6-4, 6-0

No. 5 Elina Svitolina def. Shelby Rogers: 3-6, 7-5, 6-3

No. 7 Aryna Sabalenka def. Tsvetana Pironkova: 0-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9)

No. 9 Petra Kvitova def. Alize Cornet: 6-0, 6-4

No. 11 Belinda Bencic def. Zarina Diyas: 6-2, 6-1

No. 15 Iga Swiatek def. Barbora Krejcikova: 6-4, 6-2

No. 17 Johanna Konta: Magda Linette: 6-4, 7-5

Ana Konjuh def. No. 18 Madison Keys: 6-4, 6-2

No. 19 Marketa Vondrousova def. Qiang Wang: 6-4, 6-4

No. 24 Angelique Kerber def. Renata Zarazua: 6-0, 6-0

No. 30 Ekaterina Alexandrova def. Nadia Podoroska: 6-0, 6-4

Anastasija Sevastova def. No. 31 Cori Gauff: 1-6, 6-2, 6-3

No. 32 Veronika Kudermetova def. Danielle Collins: 6-3, 6-2

Jelena Ostapenko def. Kirsten Flipkins: 6-2, 5-7, 6-3

Scores via WTA Tour website.

       

ATP Results (Singles): Round of 128

Daniel Elahi Galan def. Thiago Seyboth Wild: 6-3, 6-4

Marin Cilic def. Federico Coria: 6-3, 2-6, 6-4

Damir Dzumhur def. Kevin Anderson: 7-6 (6), 7-5

Bjorn Fratangelo def. Fernando Verdasco: 6-4, 6-4

Ilya Ivashka def. Soonwoo Kwon: 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3)

Miomir Kecmanovic def. Liam Broady: 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-1

Thanasi Kokkinakis def. Shintaro Mochizuki: 6-3, 6-3

Denis Kudla def. Jeremy Chardy: 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

Mikhail Kukushkin def. Jack Draper: 7-5, 0-0 (Retired)

Tennys Sandgren def. Pedro Martinez: 6-4, 2-0 (Retired)

Jordan Thompson def. Federico Delbonis: 7-6 (6), 6-4

Yasutaka Uchiyama def. Salvatore Caruso: 6-3, 6-4

Sebastian Korda def. Radu Albot: 6-3, 6-0

Aljaz Bedene def. Thomas Fabbiano: 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-3

Joao Sousa def. Christopher O'Connell: 7-6 (6), 6-7 (8), 7-5

Lorenzo Musetti def. Michael Mmoh: 6-4, 6-4

Scores via ATP Tour website.

    

Konjuh Scores Upset of the Day

The upset of the day went to Ana Konjuh, who defeated No. 18 Madison Keys 6-4, 6-2.

Konjuh's serve was on point, as she won 22-of-32 points on her first serve and 13-of-24 on her second. Keys did not have as much success, converting on 20-of-35 first serves and 6-of-19 second serves.

The fearless Konjuh also executed this fantastic shot at the net:

Konjuh lost that game, but she held serve and held on to win the first set.

Four elbow surgeries have prevented Konjuh from reaching her lofty ceiling, and she hasn't played much at all over the past three years.

However, Konjuh looks healthy and ready to shake up the WTA landscape after her dominant straight-set win.

         

Double Bagel for Angelique Kerber

Angelique Kerber won 58 of a possible 87 points en route to shutting out Rena Zarazua in the round of 64 on Thursday.

Zarazua forced three break points in the first game of the first set but ended up losing after an 11-point game.

It was all Kerber from there. The three-time major winner converted on 6-of-7 break point opportunities, and Zarazua was only able to convert on 2-of-14 second serves.

Kerber's double bagel was the second of her WTA career. She also managed one against Carina Witthoeft at Wimbledon in 2015.

Kerber will now face two-time Grand Slam winner Victoria Azarenka in a potentially epic third-round matchup.

    

Four Top-10 Players Get Taken To Third Sets

No. 1 Ashleigh Barty, No. 3 Simona Halep, No. 5 Elina Svitolina and No. 7 Aryna Sabalenka all had round-of-64 scares but were able to survive and advance.

Barty had a battle with Kristina Kucova and even found herself down 4-1 in the second set. However, the world No. 1 pulled through by breaking Kucova twice and then holding on for dear life when serving for the match up 6-5 in the third.

The defending Miami Open champion found herself down 0-40 while serving for the match but then rolled off five straight points for the victory.

Halep found herself down a set early after a great first-set performance from Caroline Garcia, who finished the day with five aces.

Garcia then earned a break in the first game of the second set, and Halep soon found herself down 3-1. It was all Halep from there, though, as she won 11 of the final 12 games to secure the victory.

Halep also secured a milestone with the win:

Svitolina lived on the edge against Shelby Rogers, falling behind a set before enduring an arduous second set that featured a total of seven break point winners. The serving player notably failed to win the first four games of the second set.

Rogers then found herself on her heels down 6-5 and serving, warding off three break points just to stay alive. Svitolina finished her off after a 10-point game.

Rogers broke Svitolina to start the third set, but the No. 5 player in this tournament then won six of the final eight games to secure a spot in the Round of 32.

No top-10 player was on the brink more than No. 7 Aryna Sabalenka, who was on the wrong end of a first-set bagel against Tsvetana Pironkova.

The challenger won all eight of her first-serve points and forced six break-point chances in total. Meanwhile, Sabalenka only converted on 6-of-15 first-serve points.

Sabalenka fell behind 3-1 in the second set but won five straight games to force a third set. Both players broke their opponent twice each to force a tiebreaker.

Once there, Pironkova had two match-point chances (serving on one) but could not close out. Sabalenka had three match points that did not go her way but finished Pironkova on the fourth to move on.

Sabalenka is now 4-of-4 on tiebreakers this season.

   

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