Miami, March 26
Venus Williams fended off three match points before outlasting Dutch 29th seed Kiki Bertens 5-7 6-3 7-5 in a three-hour marathon to reach the fourth round of the Miami Masters on Sunday.
Ukrainian fourth seed Elina Svitolina, Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko and British defending champion Johanna Konta also won their third round encounters.
Svitolina outlasted Daria Gavrilova 4-6 6-0 6-1 and the sixth seed Ostapenko turned back Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-2 7-6(2). Konta, the 11th seed, crushed Elise Mertens 6-2 6-1 to set up a fourth round meeting with Williams.
The tournament looked like losing yet another big name when Williams fell behind 1-4 in the third set. However, she remained more poised on the big points and eventually won on serve.
Cilic, del Potro win
Croatian second seed Marin Cilic survived a tough examination by Canadian Vasek Pospisil to reach the fourth round with a 7-5 7-6(4) victory after nearly two hours. But the tournament lost another highly-ranked player when Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, the third seed, was taken down 6-4 6-4 by Jeremy Chardy. Indian Wells champion Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, the fifth seed, was more fortunate, winning his 13th consecutive match by defeating Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-2 6-2.
Bops-Edouard knocked out
Rohan Bopanna and Edouard Roger-Vasselin crashed out in the second round of the men’s doubles after losing 6-7(5) 2-6 to Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey. — Agencies
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