Miami Open 2023: Jessica Pegula and Elena Rybakina reach last eight, Martina Trevisan celebrates career landmark
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Updated 28/03/2023 at 06:51 GMT
Third seed Jessica Pegula took a big step in her bid for Miami Open glory by defeating Magda Linette in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals. Indian Wells champion Elena Rybakina joined her in the last eight by defeating Elise Mertens to continue her quest for the 'Sunshine Double'. Martina Trevisan beat Jelena Ostapenko to reach her first WTA 1000 quarter-final.
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Jessica Pegula and Elena Rybakina crusied into the Miami Open quarter-finals with straight-set wins on Monday, while Martina Trevisan celebrated reaching the last eight of a WTA 1000 event for the first time in her career.
Third seed Pegula has hit a strong streak of form on home soil, her 6-1 7-5 victory over Magda Linette coming hot on the heels of straight-sets wins against Katherin Sebov and Danielle Collins as the American bids to win her first title of the season.
The 2022 Miami semi-finalist will face Anastasia Potapova in the quarter-finals, after the Russian eliminated Qinwen Zheng.
Pegula came flying out of the blocks in the first-ever clash with her close friend Linette, racing into a 5-0 lead before the Pole finally got on the board with a break.
The third seed immediately responded by breaking back to finish off a commanding first-set performance, but she was broken early in the second as Linette looked to launch a fight back.
Break number two soon arrived and Linette pulled 5-2 in front and looked to be strolling towards taking the second set comfortably, but Pegula dug deep to clinch two breaks in a row either side of a hold to level things up at 5-5.
Pegula held serve and suddenly the pressure was back on Linette to rediscover an elusive hold and force the tie-break.
The 20th seed buckled, as Pegula secured a third consecutive break at the first opportunity to clinch the match in straight sets and complete a remarkable second set turnaround.
Potapova’s fine run continued as the 21-year-old defeated Zheng 6-4 7-6 (7-4) in a battle between two exciting young talents.
The 27th seed, who stunned Coco Gauff earlier in the tournament for her first top-10 win at a WTA 1000 event, will now have her eye on another big scalp against Pegula.
Rybakina’s dream of completing the ‘Sunshine Double’ is still alive after the Indian Wells champion defeated Elise Mertens 6-4 6-3 to set up a quarter-final clash with Trevisan.
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The 10th seed, who won Wimbledon last year and finished as runner-up at the Australian Open in January, has now won 11 matches in a row.
She wasn’t at her best when she battled past Anna Kalinskaya and Paula Badosa in the first two rounds, but successfully navigated a tricky clash with Mertens, wary of the fact that the Belgian had already eliminated two seeded players, Daria Kasatkina and Petra Martic.
The first woman to progress was Trevisan, who achieved a career landmark in her 6-3 6-3 win over Jelena Ostapenko; the Italian's victory sent her into the first WTA 1000 quarter-final of her career.
The 25th seed, a semi-finalist at Roland Garros last year, cruised to an impressive victory in 90 minutes to make it into the last eight at the 10th attempt at this level.
"It means a lot because I never won a match here," Trevisan said.
"Match after match I'm collecting experience that's helping me a lot, especially in this type of match when you play against an important player like Ostapenko. She has a lot of experience, more than me."
Sorana Cirstea’s remarkable run continued as the world No.74 won 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 against Marketa Vondrousova to progress to her first Miami quarter-final without dropping a set. She faces Barbora Krejcilova or Aryna Sabalenka next.
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