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 The loss on the Miami hardcourts was the first since 2012 for
William, who had swept the last three titles in her unofficial home
tournament.
"I'm really thrilled," said Kuznetsova after registering her first
win over Williams since 2009. "I'm sorry fans, who are disappointed
that Serena's not going to keep playing, but for sure she'll be at
more events than here.
"I'm really happy with my performance. I tried to stay at a good
level the whole game. I think I did that pretty well and I'm happy
with the way I served today."
It was a day of dramatic upsets at Crandon Park, as Williams stepped
onto the Stadium court for her Round of 16 match immediately after
third-seeded world number two Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland was
tripped up by 19th-seeded Swiss Timea Bacsinszky 2-6 6-4 6-2.
 Radwanska was the winner on the Miami hardcourts in 2012 before
Serena Williams embarked on her three title run.
The upsets continued into the afternoon with fourth-seeded Spaniard
Garbine Muguruza falling 7-6(6) 7-6(4) to 13th-seeded Belarusian
Victoria Azarenka, still in top form following her victory this
month at Indian Wells.
Second-seeded Angelique Kerber narrowly avoided being another victim
as she survived Timea Babos 6-2 3-6 6-4 in the day's late match.
A tight first set saw both Williams and Kuznetsova register a break
but neither player could gain the upper hand, sending the opener to
a tie-break which the top-seeded American dominated 7-3 with the
help of a pair of thundering aces.
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A battling Kuznetsova controlled the second set from the start,
breaking the 21-times grand slam winner to go up 3-1 then sweeping
the next three games to level the contest at a set apiece.
The Russian upped the pressure with a pair of breaks to start the
third as she stormed through the opening three games before Williams
finally stopped the bleeding with a break of her own at 3-1.
The relief was brief, however, as former U.S. and French Open
champion Kuznetsova immediately hit back with yet another break and
went on to finish off the upset in just over two hours.
In other action, fifth-seeded Romanian Simona Halep eased into the
quarters with a tidy 6-3 6-4 decision over British wildcard Heather
Watson.
Britain, however, will be represented in the last eight as Johanna
Konta tamed another Romanian, Monica Niculescu, 6-2 6-2.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto; Editing by Larry
Fine/Sudipto Ganguly)
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