Miami Open Day 3: The Women Battle it Out

Fans watched in awe as Naomi Osaka sent Angelique Kerber out of the WTA 1000 tournament. She will face Karolina Muchova in the next round. Meanwhile, eighth seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia defeated Poland’s Magda Linette in the second round of the 2022 WTA Miami Open. Meanwhile, World No. 25 Daria Kasatkina exited the tournament in the second round, courtesy of unseeded Aliaksandra Sasnovich. Here are the stats for the third day. 

Osaka Drops a Breathtaking Performance Against Kerber

Naomi Osaka returned to tennis after the recent fiasco at Indian Wells where she was heckled by a fan. It's her first tournament since that incident and in the second round, she beat Angelique Kerber 6-2 6-3 in just over an hour. The four-time Grand Slam winner disrupted Kerber's flow and limited the World No. 13's scope of movement. In her on-court interview, she said, "She [Kerber] is the first high seeded player I've beaten this season. I went into the match wanting to play my game. I still had the memories of all the matches she has beaten me before."

The former World No. 1 further added, "I just wanted to play as well I could and it worked out in the end. I came into the match wanting to dictate and come into the net if I needed to. That's something I'm practicing. My power on the shots was working really well today." Osaka, who had been taking therapy for her mental health issues, took the opener in 30 minutes and her opponent only won two service games. 

Jabeur Wins Her Third Consecutive Match Against Linette

World Number eight seed Jabeur advanced to the third round of the Miami Open after beating Magda Linette 7-6 6-2. Jabeur has only lost one match to the Polish which took place in Baku in 2013. Jabeur emerged victorious in two other matches between them, the first time in Charleston in 2017 followed by another interesting win at Roland Garros. 

World Number 25 Kaskatkina Exits Miami Open

Russian Daria Kasatkina lost to unseeded Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-7 4-6 in the Round of 64 in the women's single event. Although the Russian won the most recent encounters against her opponent, Aliaksandra Sasnovich brought her best game to the table. Meanwhile, World No. 36 Alize Cornet extended her three-match losing streak by losing against America's Alison Riske. Although the former recently delivered her best ever Grand Slam performance at the Australian Open 2022, her performance didn't pull through in other tournaments. 

Ninth-seeded Danielle Collins outdid Anna Bondar in a lengthy three-setter to advance to the third round while Canada Leylah Fernandez lost in straight sets to the Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova. She defeated Fernandez 6-4, 7-6 (3) and will encounter former number one Naomi Osaka of Japan in the next round. Collins settled the game 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 within one hour and 57 minutes.