Major upsets in Vice City
Swiatek, Gauff stunned in Miami
WORLD NO. 1 Iga Swiatek was knocked out of the Miami Open after inspired Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova triumphed 6-4, 6-2 in their fourth round match yesterday.
The 16th seed Alexandrova played brilliant attacking tennis from the outset to beat the Pole and leave the WTA tournament without any of the top three seeds in the quarterfinals with Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff also out.
France’s Caroline Garcia upset world No. 3 Gauff, beating the American 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals while world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka had been eliminated by Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina on Saturday.
Swiatek never looked comfortable after Alexandrova broke her in the opening game and took control of proceedings with some outstanding, attacking tennis.
Having come from a set down in the previous round against Linda Noskova, Swiatek would have had some belief in turning the contest around but her Russian opponent was in no mood for mistakes.
She made short work of the second set, breaking to go 2-1 up with an startling cross-court return and ending the match with with 31 winners to Swiatek’s 11.
The match was the first in which Swiatek has not broken serve since her defeat to Ash Barty in Adelaide in January, 2022.
“I just feel disappointed, for sure, because I thought I was going to play better here in Miami. But she played an amazing match and for sure was the better play out there today,” said the 22year-old, four-time grand slam winner.
Swiatek said she had a hard time reading Alexandrova’s serve but felt that things just hadn’t clicked for her in the tournament.
“I was feeling that I couldn’t play in a natural way but it’s not like I always feel comfortable on court. I thought I would be able to work through that,” she said.
Alexandrova laughed off the suggestion that she had played a perfect match but was certainly not going to downplay her performance.
“It was such a great game for me in consistency, the serve, the returns, the playing from the baseline, I think it was pretty good and I hope I can keep for the next match,” she said.
Garcia, who had beaten four-times Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka in straight sets on Sunday, continued her inspired form as she defeated Gauff on her home court in one hour 43 minutes.
After a thrilling encounter, which ebbed and flowed, Garcia, ranked 27th in the world, emerged to face a lasteight meeting with the winner of Monday’s match between Romanian Sorana Cirstea and American Danielle Collins.
The victory was Garcia’s first against a top ten opponent since late 2022 but her third career win (3-2) against Gauff, who she also beat in the
2022 US
Open. “It was definitely a great match and great win for me. And the last couple of months have not been easy. And definitely today, following the match of yesterday, it means a lot. And it was some great tennis,” she said.
Gauff, who hails from South Florida, was disappointed not to have progressed further in front of a home crowd.
“It is a tough loss,” she said, “It was basically an up and down match. She played aggressive, which I knew coming in and I think it was really important for me to just change the height of the ball.
“I did that well for the majority of the second set. And then starting off the third with an early break, I think just completely changed the momentum,” added the American. –