Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Venus rolls, Stephens falls
Williams wins in straight sets, defending champ loses to Maria.
MIAMI GARDENS — Venus Williams seemed to be smiling a lot more than she usually does on the court in her third-round match at the Miami Open grandstand court at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday afternoon. She wasn’t quite sure why.
“I think there’s just a lot to smile for. That’s all I can say,” said Williams, the 38-year-old three-time Miami Open champ. “I’m always having fun. I just have never smiled this much on the court. Even some points I lose – I don’t know. I don’t know. We’ll see if I do that tomorrow.”
Maybe it’s exactly that – that she’ll be playing on Monday. Williams advanced to the round of 16 by defeating 14th-seeded Daria Kasatkina of Russia in a dominant 6-3, 6-1 decision.
Serena Williams may be gone after withdrawing on Saturday with a left knee injury, but Venus carries on, into the last 16 at the Miami Open for the fourth time in the last five years. She will face No. 2 seed Simona Halep of Romania after the world No. 3 survived a scare in three sets against lucky loser Polona Hercog of Slovenia.
Williams won all eight of her break points against Kasatkina and only lost one game after trailing 3-2 in the first set.
“I’ve never had a match before like that in my life. There’s always a time for a first,” said Williams, the seven-time Grand Slam champion who won the Miami Open in 1998, 1999 and 2001. “I’m returning really well. If I’m getting a look at the serve, it’s going well for me.”
After top-seed Naomi Osaka was eliminated and Serena Williams withdrew on Saturday, the women’s side had another top competitor pushed to the brink in Halep. She dropped the first set, then had to win a second-set tiebreaker before claiming the third set for a 5-7, 7-6 (1), 6-2 victory in a two-hour, 50-minute marathon.
“First two sets were tough because she was serving very, very strong,” said Halep, who with Osaka out could make a run at reclaiming the WTA No. 1 ranking. “She didn’t miss. So it was really difficult. It was a very, very high standard.”
There was also an injury scare for Halep, down for a few minutes in the first set as her left knee was attended to. She pushed through the match with tape on the knee.
“Didn’t affect me much,” she said. “I still feel a pain in my knee, but I hope I can recover until [Monday]. Hopefully, it’s not very dangerous.”
Meanwhile, there will be a new champion after Plantation native and No. 4 seed Sloane Stephens was upset by Tatjana Maria of Germany 6-3, 6-2 on stadium court at Hard Rock Stadium.
Maria broke Stephens’ serve three times in the second set after doing it twice in the first. Ahead of set point in the first, Stephens slammed her racket onto the court in frustration as the unforced errors piled up.
Djokovic, Isner advance:
Novak Djokovic moved on in men’s third-round action with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 victory over Federico Delbonis of Argentina on stadium court in the evening.
Djokovic dominated the third set, breaking Delbonis’ serve twice. Delbonis took the second set by breaking back-to-back Djokovic serves after he broke one of his. Djokovic was up 5-3 in the first set before Delbonis broke him and eventually got it to 5-5, but Djokovic won the next two games to take the set.
The ATP world No. 1 from Serbia will face Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain in the round of 16 after he knocked off Italy’s Fabio Fognini on Sunday.
Defending Miami Open men’s champion John Isner advanced to the last 16 with a 7-5, 7-6 (6) victory over Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain on the stadium court early Sunday afternoon. Isner, the American tournament’s No. 7 seed, gets Great Britain’s Kyle Edmund up next. Edmund, seeded 19th, topped No. 12 seed Milos Raonic of Canada 6-4, 6-4.