No. 23 seed Caroline Garcia ended third-seeded Coco Gauff’s run at the Miami Open with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 win in the round of 16 on Monday in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Garcia, a first-time quarterfinalist at the WTA 1000 event, saved five of seven break points while breaking Gauff’s serve three times in five opportunities.
“It’s definitely a great match and great win for me,” Garcia said after the match. “Last couple of months have not been easy, and definitely today, following the match of yesterday, it means a lot. It was some great tennis.”
Garcia — who beat another Grand Slam winner in Japan’s Naomi Osaka in the previous round — will face Danielle Collins in the quarterfinals.
Garcia absorbed eight aces by Gauff, including four in the second set when Gauff raced to an easy win. But in the first game of the third set, Garcia saved four break points before finally breaking through on the fourth deuce.
She cruised from there to win her third straight meeting with Gauff, improving to 3-2 in their head-to-head series.
“We had some good battles in the past, and I always try to go as much as I can with confidence and conviction in my shots,” Garcia said.
“To have a (previously) tied record with Coco gives me confidence that I have to go for it. … I tried to take as much time away as I can against her.”
Collins, who is from Florida and retiring at year’s end, ousted No. 19 seed Sorana Cirstea of Romania 6-3, 6-2 on Monday.
The highest-seeded player to win Monday was Kazakh fourth seed Elena Rybakina, who defeated No. 17 Madison Keys 6-3, 7-5. In the quarters, Rybakina will draw No. 8 Maria Sakkari of Greece, who won via walkover against 22nd seed Anna Kalinskaya of Russia.
No. 27 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus topped No. 24 Katie Boulter of Great Britain 7-5, 6-1, and Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan beat Ukrainian No. 32 Anhelina Kalinina 6-4, 7-6 (5).
The two late matches Monday night pit top-seeded Iga Swiatek of Poland against No. 14 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia and No. 20 Emma Navarro against No. 5 Jessica Pegula in an all-American battle.
–Field Level Media
