By Chris Oddo | Monday March 28, 2016
Victoria Azarenka came through a spirited first-time meeting with Garbine Muguruza in Miami on Monday.
Photo Source: Mike Ehrmann/Getty
The first ever meeting between Victoria Azarenka and Garbine Muguruza had tennis fans drooling for more when it was over. Azarenka prevailed in two tight sets, 7-6(6), 7-6(4) to set up a quarterfinal clash at the Miami Open with Great Britain’s Johanna Konta, but this was no walk in the park for the suddenly surging Belarusian.
More: Kuznetsova Conquers Sluggish Serena in Miami
Two-time champion Azarenka broke in the third game of the first set as a Muguruza forehand drifted long, but the 4th-seeded Spaniard quickly hit back in the next game to level.
From there the pair exchanged in numerous jaw-dropping rallies and eventually headed into a first-set tiebreaker.
With Muguruza holding two set points, Azarenka dug deep and reeled off four consecutive points to steal the set.
She saved the first with an ace down the T, the second by placing a perfect backhand return right at Muguruza’s feet, and closed the set when a Muguruza forehand was slapped into the net.
Azarenka quickly moved ahead with a break for 2-0 in the second set and marched out to a 5-2 lead, but Muguruza saved a match point and broke to get back on serve at 4-5 and the pair went to another tiebreaker.
There was very little between these two all afternoon, but once again Azarenka’s veteran’s poise shone through as she grabbed the tiebreaker, sealing affairs on her third match point as Muguruza missed with the forehand.
Muguruza, who notched her first career tour-level win in 2012 here as a wild card and went on to reach the round of 16, has never reached the last eight in Miami.
She drops to 8-6 on the season but has played some of the best tennis of her season here in Miami.
Azarenka, now a winner of nine in a row, improves to 19-1 in 2016 and takes a share of the WTA lead in match wins (tied with Radwanska).
Konta became the first woman from Great Britain to reach the quarterfinals in Miami Open history with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Monica Niculescu. She has faced Azarenka once in her career with the Belarusian retiring after dropping the first set in Wuhan last year.
In other round of 16 action on Monday, Ekaterina Makarova knocked off Elina Svitolina, 6-1, 6-4, to set up an all-Russian quarterfinal with Svetlana Kuznetsova.