No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland, No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula and No. 5 seed Madison Keys were all straight-sets winners Friday in the second round of the Miami Open.
Swiatek had to save a set point in the second set on her way to defeating France’s Caroline Garcia 6-2, 7-5.
“My energy level got down really fast,” Swiatek said of her second set, when she rallied from a 3-1 deficit. “So I tried to wake myself up, keep the intensity from the first set, follow through and go for it.”
Pegula cruised 6-4, 6-4 over fellow American Bernarda Pera in 74 minutes, while Keys was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over Armenia’s Elina Avanesyan. Keys is still vying for her first win since her Grand Slam breakthrough two months ago at the Australian Open.
“For me, the loss last week (at Indian Wells) just felt very frustrating. I couldn’t find my game, and being in that position is never really super enjoyable, as you could probably imagine,” Keys said at the outset of the tournament.
“…But I think there’s also the perspective of looking at the big picture of the year. I’ve had a lot of really great matches, and I’ve been able to figure things out in a lot of situations.”
The Indian Wells champion, No. 11 Mirra Andreeva of Russia, dominated countrywoman Veronika Kudermetova 6-0, 6-2 in just 68 minutes Friday.
The biggest upset of the day saw Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu outlast No. 8 seed Emma Navarro 7-6 (6), 2-6, 7-6 (3) in two hours and 53 minutes.
The 2021 U.S. Open winner, Raducanu has struggled in her career ever since and has yet to win a second tournament title.
“Yeah, it was a lot of emotions when I won,” Raducanu said after Friday’s match. “I know I won the U.S. Open, but I think having been through so much in the last few years, it’s like the wins now mean so much more.”
Another American awaits Raducanu in the third round, as McCartney Kessler knocked off No. 30 seed Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4).
Spanish No. 10 seed Paula Badosa beat Canada’s Victoria Mboko 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (3), while Ukrainian No. 23 seed Marta Kostyuk defeated Australia’s Kimberly Birrell 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
Advancing in straight sets were No. 17 Amanda Anisimova, No. 20 Clara Tauson of Denmark, No. 22 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, No. 27 Elise Mertens of Belgium, No. 32 Anna Kalinskaya of Russia, Alexandra Eala of the Philippines and Anna Blinkova of Russia, who defeated countrywoman and No. 13 seed Diana Shnaider 6-4, 7-6 (0).
Czech 15th seed Karolina Muchova won her first set 6-0 before Belarusian opponent Victoria Azarenka retired.
–Field Level Media
