WTA Miami: Ashleigh Barty and Aryna Sabalenka celebrate dramatic comeback victories
Ashleigh Barty and Aryna Sabalenka made it into the third round in a dramatic way at the WTA 1000 tournament in Miami. Both players were only one point away from elimination in their second round games.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Mar 25, 2021, 10:58 pm
It didn't seem to last too long, the first international tournament appearance of Ashleigh Barty in over a year: The world number one was against the world number 149. Kristina Kucova was already back 6: 3, 4: 6 and 2: 5 in the second round and was even confronted with a match point when the score was 3: 5.
The Australian just pulled her head out of the loop and prevailed after around 2:30 hours of play with 6: 3, 4: 6 and 7: 5. In the third round, the 24-year-old will meet Jelena Ostapenko. The Latvian also prevailed against Kirsten Flipkens in three contested sets.
Swiatek and Benic confidently
Only Aryna Sabalenka made it more exciting. Like Barty, the world number eight made up for a 2: 5 deficit in the third set against Tsvetana Pironkova, then even had to fend off two match points in the tie-break and finally won 0: 6, 6: 3 and 7: 6 (9). Elina Svitolina also struggled hard, defeating Shelby Rogers 3: 6, 7: 5 and 6: 3.
It was easier for the reigning French Open winner Iga Swiatek, who beat Barbora Krejcikova 6: 4 and 6: 2. The Polish woman now has to deal with Ana Kunjuh, who took the 18th seed Madison Keys out of the tournament in two sets. Belinda Bencic marched even more impressively than Swiatek in round three: The Swiss woman gave Zarina Diyas no chance at all in the 6: 2 and 6: 1 successes.
The German Angelique Kerber had already prevailed earlier in the day. The three-time Grand Slam winner did not let Renata Zarazua win a single game and will play against Victoria Azarenka in the third round in a real smashing match.