Marta Lavandier/Associated Press

Miami Open Masters 2021 Results: Barty, Azarenka Advance to Next Round

Paul Kasabian

The Miami Open continued Saturday with the WTA Tour entering the round of 32 and the ATP Tour finishing round-of-64 play.

The favorites largely persevered, with No. 1 Ashleigh Barty notably earning a straight-set win in her quest to win back-to-back Miami Open titles. No. 14 Victoria Azarenka will look to stop her in the round of 16 after taking care of business in straight sets against Angelique Kerber.

You can find summaries of those matches below (alongside two other notable contests) in addition to full results from the action Saturday.

            

WTA Tour: Round of 32

No. 1 Ashleigh Barty def. Jelena Ostapenko: 6-3, 6-2

Anastasija Sevastova (walkover) vs. No. 3 Simona Halep

No. 5 Elina Svitolina def. No. 30 Ekaterina Alexandrova: 7-6 (1), 6-4

No. 7 Aryna Sabalenka def. No. 32 Veronika Kudermetova: 7-6 (4), 6-4

No. 9 Petra Kvitova def. No. 17 Johanna Konta: 6-1, 6-2

No. 14 Victoria Azarenka def. No. 24 Angelique Kerber: 7-5, 6-2

No. 19 Marketa Vondrousova def. No. 11 Belinda Bencic: 4-6, 6-4, 6-4

Ana Konjuh def. No. 15 Iga Swiatek: 6-4, 2-6, 6-2

Source: wtatennis.com

           

ATP Tour: Round of 64

No. 2 Stefanos Tsitsipas def. Damir Dzumhur: 6-1, 6-4

No. 4 Andrey Rublev def. Tennys Sandgren: 6-1, 6-2

No. 5 Diego Schwartzman def. Yasutaka Uchiyama: 6-3, 6-3

No. 6 Denis Shapovalov def. Ilya Ivashka: 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4

Sebastian Korda def. No. 10 Fabio Fognini: 1-6, 6-4, 6-2

No. 12 Milos Raonic def. Jordan Thompson: 6-2, 6-1

Marin Cilic def. No. 13 Cristian Garin: 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5)

Daniel Elahi Galan def. No. 15 Alex de Minaur: 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

No. 17 Aslan Karatsev def. Mikhail Kukushkin: 6-4, 6-3

No. 20 Ugo Humbert def. Joao Sousa: 6-1, 6-4

Lorenzo Musetti def. No. 23 Benoit Paire: 6-3, 6-3

No. 24 Lorenzo Sonego def. Bjorn Fratangelo: 6-4, 7-6 (5)

No. 25 Adrian Mannarino def. Miomir Kecmanovic: 6-3, 6-4

No. 26 Hubert Hurkacz def. Denis Kudla: 7-6 (5), 6-4

No. 28 Kei Nishikori def. Aljaz Bedene: 7-6 (6), 5-7, 6-4

No. 29 Marton Fucsovics def. Thanasi Kokkinakis: 7-6 (3), 6-7 (4), 6-4

Source: atptour.com

               

No. 1 Ashleigh Barty def. Jelena Ostapenko: 6-3, 6-2

Barty looks well-positioned to win the Miami Open again after defeating Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-2.

The first game of the first set proved to be the most dramatic. Barty had to survive four break-point attempts before winning the first set in a 16-point affair.

She then immediately broke Ostapenko but needed another marathon game to take the set home. Serving for the set up 5-3, Barty had five set-point opportunities before finally winning the sixth.

Ostapenko came out firing in the second set, holding serve before breaking Barty to go up 2-0. But Barty then rolled off six straight game wins to earn the straight-set victory.

          

Anastasija Sevastova (Walkover) vs. No. 3 Simona Halep

No. 3 Simona Halep was forced to withdraw from singles and doubles competition because of a right shoulder injury. She provided the following statement Saturday:

Halep defeated Caroline Garcia in three sets (3-6, 6-4, 6-0) on Thursday to open the tournament. Sevastova defeated Olga Danilovic and Coco Gauff to reach the round of 32.

                

No. 14 Victoria Azarenka def. No. 24 Angelique Kerber: 7-5, 6-2

Victoria Azarenka's quest for her fourth Miami Open title continued after she beat Angelique Kerber to advance to the round of 16.


Azarenka also won her ninth matchup in 11 lifetime outings against Kerber in advancing.

Azarenka and Kerber combined for five Grand Slam wins, which in turn created a juicy round-of-32 matchup.

Azarenka emerged on the winning end in part because Kerber had eight double-faults. Azarenka also won five of six second-serve points compared to Kerber's 3-of-11 in the same category.

The two players were tied at five in the first set, but Azarenka broke Kerber before holding serve for the win. She scored eight of the final 10 points.

The second set was all Azarenka, who earned two early breaks en route to the victory. She'll now face Barty in the round of 16.

          

Ana Konjuh def. No. 15 Iga Swiatek: 6-4, 2-6, 6-2

Ana Konjuh has quickly become the best story in this tournament. She's missed much of the past three years because of four elbow surgeries, and that injury-marred span occurred one year after she reached a peak WTA rating of No. 20 in 2017.

However, she's in excellent form right now after winning her third straight Miami Open match (and second over a ranked opponent).

On Saturday, Konjuh had 40 winners against Iga Swiatek:

She also smashed 10 aces and pushed Swiatek to the limit with 14 break points, converting four. Konjuh closed out the match with a dominant third-set win at 6-2, with six of her aces occurring then.

Konjuh now has a pair of top-20 victories in this tournament after beating No. 18 Madison Keys in the previous round.

   

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