Ashleigh Barty and Bianca Andreescu beat major champions in Miami

Ashleigh Barty (Rob Keating, Wikimedia Commons)

It was an intriguing fourth round at the 2021 Miami Open, (considered by many as tennis’s unofficial fifth major), even though it currently takes place in the Miami Dolphins’ home stadium parking lot. On Monday, major champions Ashleigh Barty of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia, and Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, each beat multiple major champions Victoria Azarenka of Minsk, Belarus and Garbine Mugurza of Barcelona, Spain in three sets each.

Barty, who was the 2019 French Open champion, beat 2012 and 2013 Australian Open champion Azarenka 6-1, 1-6, 6-2. A major reason why Barty came through as the victor came down to the serve. Barty, the number one seed, had six aces and two double faults, compared to two aces and five double faults for Azarenka. Barty was the second major champion Azarenka faced in Miami, as the 14th-seed Belarussian beat 24th-ranked Angelique Kerber of Germany 7-5, 6-2 in the third round on Saturday. Kerber is a three-time grand slam champion as she won the Australian Open and United States Open in 2016, and Wimbledon in 2018.

We have not seen much of Barty lately due to coronavirus rules in Australia, and we have seen even less of Andreescu, due to her numerous injuries over the last year. However on Monday, the 2019 U.S. Open champion beat Muguruza in an exciting three-set battle 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Yes, Muguruza has experience in high-performance tennis, as she has won the 2016 French Open and the 2017 Wimbledon. However, Andreescu showed exceptional resiliency in coming back after the first set and delivered with fascinating, high-quality groundstrokes.

The women’s quarterfinals on Tuesday have Barty versus Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus and Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia versus Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine. Then on Wednesday, Naomi Osaka of Japan will face Maria Sakkari of Greece, and Andreescu will face Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain.

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