WTA Miami: Victoria Azarenka, Amanda Anisimova and Yastremska advance
The 17-year-old Amanda Anisimova is off to a flying start at Indian Wells where she played fantastic tennis a year ago, defeating Andrea Petkovic 6-4, 6-3 in an hour and 27 minutes for the seventh win of the season. The American saved six out of seven break points and won almost half of the return points to earn 14 break points, scoring four breaks to advance into the second round safely. The first break of the match came in game seven when Amanda converted the fifth break chance, serving well and clinching the opener 6-4 with a hold in game ten.
Trailing 5-1 in set number two, Petkovic saved a match point and pulled one break back, reducing the deficit to 5-3 before Anisimova broke her once again to book the place in the second round. Maria Sakkari managed to overcome a slow start against the struggling Serb Olga Danilovic to score a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 win, only the third so far in 2019. Danilovic scored four breaks but she lost the ground after the opening set, allowing Sakkari a late break in the deciding set to end her run in the first round. Victoria Azarenka needed two hours and 31 minutes to oust Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, bouncing back from a break down in the decider to cross the finish line first with a break in game ten after a thunderous baseline battle.
An 18-year-old Dayana Yastremska took down Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3, 6-2 in 66 minutes, losing serve twice and dominating on the return to earn five breaks from eight opportunities. Yastremska claimed the opening set with a solid return game at 4-3 and rattled off the last four games in set number two to march towards the finish line and secure the place in round two. The Australian veteran Samantha Stosur toppled Evgeniya Rodina 6-4, 6-2 in an hour and 31 minutes, working hard in her service games to erase 12 out of 15 break points and winning more than half of the return points to grab six breaks and seal the deal in straight sets.
The 17-year-old Xiyu Wang made a perfect start of her Miami campaign, beating Monica Puig 6-3, 6-1 in 67 minutes. The youngster had a clear advantage from the baseline, setting the pace with her deep and accurate groundstrokes that left Puig with no answer, losing serve once and mounting the pressure on the other side of the net. Monica had nothing in her arsenal to respond and make herself competitive, playing against ten break points and losing serve five times to propel the Chinese over the finish line.
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