Halep on cloud nine after flying past Venus

Miami, March 26

Bianca Andreescu’s remarkable run of form was brought to an end by injury at the Miami Open on Monday when the Canadian teenager retired with a shoulder problem while trailing 1-6 0-2 in her fourth-round clash with Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit. 

The 18-year-old arrived in Miami fresh off her triumph at Indian Wells but an overworked right shoulder ended any hopes of extending her 10-match winning streak.

Up next for Kontaveit in the last-eight will be Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei, who took down former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki 6-3 6-7(0) 6-2 two days after beating the current occupier of that position, Naomi Osaka. It was 33-year-old Hsieh’s first win over former Australian Open champion Wozniacki in five attempts.

Simona Halep broke Venus Williams in the first game of their match and never looked back as she coasted to a 6-3 6-3 victory to book her ticket to the quarterfinals. “I’m more confident,” the second seed and world No. 3 said. 

Czech third seed Petra Kvitova is another player gunning for No. 1 and she beat France’s Caroline Garcia 6-3 6-3 to set up a last-eight clash with Ash Barty, a 4-6 6-3 6-2 winner over Kiki Bertens.

Fifth seed Karolina Pliskova outlasted Kazakh Yulia Putintseva 2-6 6-3 7-5.

Federer, Anderson advance

Roger Federer overcame a sluggish start to defeat Filip Krajinovic 7-5 6-3 and Kevin Anderson’s booming serve proved too much for Joao Sousa as they advanced to the fourth round.

Next up for Federer is Russian Daniil Medvedev after the 13th seed defeated American qualifier Reilly Opelka 7-6(5) 6-7(5) 7-6(0) in a match that included 41 total aces.

Anderson had 13 aces to seal a 6-4 7-6(6) victory over Sousa. Unseeded Australian Jordan Thompson beat Grigor Dimitrov 7-5 7-5.

Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov dispatched 21-year-old Russian Andrey Rublev 6-3 7-6(5). Next up for Shapovalov is a mouthwatering clash with another fellow young gun, 20-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas. American Frances Tiafoe battled back to defeat Spain’s David Ferrer 5-7 6-3 6-3. — Reuters