Swiatek, Gauff stunned in Miami
Open fourth round
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[March 26, 2024]
(Reuters) -Iga Swiatek's hopes of landing another 'Sunshine
Double' ended in a 6-4 6-2 fourth round loss to Ekaterina
Alexandrova on Monday as the world number one joined third seed Coco
Gauff in making an early exit from the Miami Open.
Swiatek, who won the first leg of the Sunshine Double at Indian
Wells earlier this month, was completely outplayed by the Russian
world number 16, who claimed the biggest win of her career.
"I just went out on the court and did my best, I think it went quite
well," said Alexandrova.
Top seed Swiatek, who captured the Sunshine Double in 2022, never
broke Alexandrova's serve and had no answer to her powerful and
precise groundstrokes under the lights in South Florida.
Alexandrova, seeded 14th, will next face fifth seed Jessica Pegula
in the quarter-finals after she overcame fellow American Emma
Navarro 7-6(1) 6-3.
Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia's serve was clicking early in her battle
against Gauff and she never faced a break point in the opening set
before the American raised her level to even the affair at a set
apiece.
In the first game of the deciding set, Garcia fended off four break
points to hold serve and broke at love to take a 2-0 lead she would
not relinquish against her 20-year-old opponent.
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"I think I stayed positive and optimistic about my serve," Garcia
said about the five break points she saved.
"The first game of the third set was quite important for me and
maybe for her also and I got a little bit lucky because my forehand
was catching the line but also I went for it, so maybe it's my
reward."
Next up for Garcia is American Danielle Collins, who beat Sorana
Cirstea 6-3 6-2.
'TOUGH ONE'
Fourth seed Elena Rybakina powered past Madison Keys 6-3 7-5 to
dispatch Florida resident Keys and will next meet a well-rested
Maria Sakkari after the Greek eighth seed got a walkover into the
quarter-finals.
Rybakina was more efficient than Keys, winning just over 80% of her
first serve points and converting three of her eight break points
during the 84-minute encounter.
"Really happy with my performance today," Kazakhstan's Rybakina said
in her on-court interview. "It was a tough one.
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![](../images/032624PIX/sports29.jpg)
Mar 25, 2024; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Ekaterina Alexandrova (L)
shakes hands with Iga Swiatek (POL) (R) after their match on day
eight of the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit:
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
![](../images/ads/current/graue_lda_4_2021.png)
"With Madison it's always difficult matches and
she's an aggressive player so I knew that I needed to be ready for
every point and especially on the return."
In other early women's matches, Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva beat
Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina, the 32nd seed, 6-4 7-6(5).
Sakkari was scheduled to play in the day's opening match on the
Grandstand court but advanced without hitting a ball as Russia's
Anna Kalinskaya withdrew ahead of their fourth-round match due to
health issues.
Kalinskaya, the 22nd seed, arrived in Miami following a third round
defeat at Indian Wells where a stomach ailment forced her to miss a
few days of practice.
The 25-year-old Kalinskaya reached the round of 16 in Miami without
dropping a set in wins over China's Wang Xiyu and Latvian ninth seed
Jelena Ostapenko.
"I'm so sorry I was really looking forward to playing today, but
unfortunately my health doesn't allow me. Thank you for your
support," said Kalinskaya.
Rybakina owns a 2-1 record in head-to-head meetings with Sakkari,
who lost to Swiatek in the Indian Wells final.
"Tough opponent and I'm going to try to do my best to prepare as
much as I can and try to be fresh physically," said Rybakina. "I
think it's going to be a tough one but hopefully it goes my way."
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, Nick Mulvenney in Sydney and
Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Ken Ferris, Lincoln Feast
and Peter Rutherford.)
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