MIAMI GARDENS: Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina survived a spirited comeback from Russian Anna Kalinskaya at the Miami Open on Thursday, progressing to the third round with a hard-fought 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 win.

Rybakina is aiming for the ‘Sunshine Double’ after defeating Aryna Sabalenka to win the Indian Wells final last week and she came into the match on the back of wins in each of the last eight games she has started.

Kalinskaya broke early in the first set but failed to hold serving for the set at 5-4 up and her Kazakh opponent broke again to turn the set around.

The Russian received medical attention between sets and started the second poorly but trailing 4-2 she produced a brilliant cross-court winner to break back.

She broke again with Rybakina going long and wrapped up the set with a magnificent shot down the line to force the match into a deciding set.

It was tight until Rybakina broke in the sixth game, Kalinskaya going for one deep effort too many but the Russian’s resilience was evident again as she responded with a break of her own.

But a tiring Kalinskaya was unable to hold her serve and Rybakina saw the match out to set up a meeting with Spain’s Paula Badosa.

“It’s not easy, I had just two days to adapt [after Indian Wells],” Rybakina said in her on-court interview. “It was a tough match. I’m really happy I could win in the end. I had the opportunity to close in two sets but I made some silly mistakes and she really returned well.”

Americans Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff advanced with less complication enjoying straight sets wins at Hard Rock Stadium.

Third seed Pegula beat qualifier Katherine Sebov 6-3, 6-1 and will next face fellow American Danielle Collins, while sixth seed Gauff eased past Rebecca Marino 6-4, 6-3 to set up a battle with Russia’s Anastasia Potapova.

In other second-round action, Collins beat Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 while Potapova defeated Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk 6-1, 6-3.

Belgium’s Elise Mertens upset Russian eighth seed Daria Kasatkina 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 and Spanish 21st seed Badosa battled to a 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 6-3 win over Germany’s Laura Siegemund.

Three-time Miami Open winner Victoria Azarenka beat Italy’s Camila Giorgi 6-3, 6-1 to book her place in the third round while Latvian 24th seed Jelena Ostapenko and China’s Zheng Qinwen, the 23rd seed, also advanced.

On the men’s side, Chilean qualifier Cristian Garin, who made a surprising run to the fourth round at Indian Wells, beat Marcos Giron 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 to reach the second round in Miami. Garin will face Argentine Sebastian Baez next.

Austrian wildcard Dominic Thiem’s struggles continued as he was beaten 7-6 (9-7), 6-2 by Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego, while big-hitting Czech Jiri Lehecka cruised to a 6-3, 6-4 win over Argentine Federico Coria.

Frenchman Richard Gasquet claimed a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 win over Australian lucky loser Christopher O’Connell to set-up a meeting with second-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece.

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2023