By Tennis Now | Monday, March 26, 2018
March madness has turned the Miami draw upside down.
Venus Williams backed up her dramatic comeback triumph over Kiki Bertens by deposing defending champion Johanna Konta, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2, to power into the Miami Open quarterfinals.
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“I think she just played really well and was able to get a foothold in, and then she just kind of played well at the right times,” Williams said afterward. “Just get a rhythm to her game I think helped me.”
The 37-year-old veteran will face qualifier Danielle Collins in an all-American quarterfinal.
Bracket buster Collins continued her break-out spring.
The two-time NCAA singles champion surprised Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, on Court 1.
It is Collins ninth victory in recent weeks, including an upset of 14th-ranked Madison Keys at Indian Wells earlier this month and a three-set win over 16th-seeded CoCo Vandeweghe last week. Collins, whose ranking has spiked from 167 at the end of 2017 to No. 93, will face Williams for the first time.
“I have never seen her play, but I do love seeing Americans do well,” Williams told the media in Miami. “She seems like a super-nice person, so, you know, it would be nice to play an American, as well.”
Three-time champion Williams, who arrived in Miami winless in three-setters this season, scored her second straight three-set win. Williams lifted her level in the critical stages and looked the fresher player by the end of the two hour, 21-minute test.
“I think when you play against someone of her caliber and the women that are at the top of the game, it's never over until you literally shake hands,” Konta said. “I definitely wasn't surprised that she was able to do that. I think she did a very good job in adapting and dealing with the situation and the conditions out there. I definitely struggled to raise my level like she did, which is unfortunate, but, yeah, no, I wasn't surprised.”
Yesterday, the former world No. 1 rallied from a 1-4 third-set deficit and fought off three match points battling by a cramping Kiki Bertens, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5.
Today, Williams and Konta squared off in a physically-demanding first set. Williams earned set points at 5-4, but Konta stood form. The Briton broke at 6-5 and serve out the opening set.
Turning her shoulders into her shots, Williams stormed back reeling off six of seven games surging through the second set to force a decider.
Konta, who took treatment for back spasms, slashed three straight aces to hold in the third game then broke to level at 2-all.
“I'd be hesitant to call it an injury,” Konta said. “I think it was more just a case of me playing with a little too much stress and therefore my body not dealing with and adapting well enough to the conditions.
“It was quite swirly out there, and when you're not, I think, fluid enough and loose enough to kind of deal with that, it just puts that much more of a strain on your body. So I think mainly it was more of a spasm more than anything, and I just wanted to make sure that it didn't become more sinister, which spasms can. That's it.”
The eighth-seeded Williams cranked it up again scoring consecutive breaks during a four-game run to seal her 64th career Miami victory.