MIAMI Gardens, Fla. – World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka arrived in the 16th round at Miami Open on Saturday.
“I feel very bad for her. I want her to recover quickly. She’s that kind of fighter,” Sabalenka said in her postmatch in an interview on the court. “I hope she’s getting better soon. It’s hard to say anything about this match. Thank you for coming and supporting me. I love all those posters and t-shirts.”
Sabalenka, who lost to Miami Fresh in last week’s Indian Wells Final, concluded her first set 6-1 before Romanian tactics forced her to retire with a right thigh injury.
Three-time Grand Slam champion Sabalenka will be the winner of American and defending Miami Open champion Daniel Collins and Swiss qualifiers in the grandstand at Rebeka Masarova on Saturday night.
Also on Saturday, Osaka’s Naomi won the American wildcard Haley Baptist 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-4, with No. 6 seed Italian Jasmine Paolini having to retire with a left foot injury as he chased 4-3 in the opening set.
Third seeded Cocogoff also won the Greek Maria Sacchila 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the 16th round.
On the men’s side, top seed Alexander Zverev defeated Jacob Fianley 6-2, 6-4 to reach the third round. Zverev looked comfortable against the UK qualifiers, mixing solid serves from the baseline, saving two breakpoints they faced during the 74-minute match.
For Zverev, who lost in the first round at Indian Wells, this victory gave him a German record of 145th Masters 1000 victory. He is now facing Australia’s Jordan Thompson.
“I’m happy to improve some things from the Indian Wells, who didn’t feel good on the court. I didn’t feel like I was playing well,” Zverev told reporters. “Hopefully this is the first of many games for me here and I can continue to play well.”
Hong Kong’s wild card Colman Wong has moved forward with 13-seeded Ben Shelton, 7-6 (3), 2-6, 7-6 (5), while Canada’s Dennis Shapovalov and American third-seeded Taylor Fritz also win Saturday to meet in the third round.
This report uses information from Reuters.