Serena withdraws, Osaka stunned

Miami, March 24 

The Miami Open lost two of its biggest drawcards on Saturday with world No. 1 Naomi Osaka suffering a shock third-round loss to Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei after eight-time champion Serena Williams withdrew due to a knee injury.

The 33-year-old Hsieh came from a set down to prevail 4-6 7-6(4) 6-3 as her unorthodox style frustrated, perplexed and finally wore down US and Australian Open champion Osaka. Osaka, who lost in the fourth round at Indian Wells and could lose her No. 1 ranking depending on how others do in the tournament, said the mental side of her game had let her down.

“I just think I got too emotional, which is something I did last match, too,” she said. 

Hsieh had lost her two previous matches with Osaka, including a hard-fought contest in Melbourne in January, but came back from a break down in each of the last two sets, saving eight of the 12 break points she faced. The Taiwanese had knocked out then world number one Simona Halep at Wimbledon last year and again demonstrated her range of clever shot-making against a much more powerful opponent.

Osaka had won 63 straight matches after taking the first set but Hsieh’s victory brought that run to an end and set up a fourth round meeting with Caroline Wozniacki, who beat Romanian qualifier Monica Niculescu 6-4 7-6(4).

The stunning upset came after the tournament had earlier lost American great Williams to a left knee injury.

It is the second consecutive WTA event she has been forced to retire from after she withdrew from last week’s tournament in Indian Wells with a viral illness.

Earlier, world No. 2 Petra Kvitova needed three sets and more than two and a half hours to beat Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-4 3-6 6-4 in a clash of heavy hitters. The two-time Wimbledon champion will meet Caroline Garcia in the fourth round after the Frenchwoman knocked out 15th seeded German Julia Goerges 6-0 7-5.

Canadian Bianca Andreescu continued her rapid rise with a 6-4 4-6 6-1 victory over former world No. 1 Angelique Kerber. It was the second win over Kerber in less than a week for the 18-year-old Andreescu.

Seventh seed Kiki Bertens also prevailed over Viktoria Kuzmova 3-6 6-0 6-1. 

Federer fights back

David Ferrer is set to retire from professional tennis in May but the Spaniard showed he still has the tools to bring down the biggest names in the game after a stunning 2-6 7-5 6-3 win over world No. 3 Alexander Zverev. The victory clearly meant a lot to the 36-year-old, who will bring the curtain down on his career at the Madrid Open. Ferrer will next face 21-year-old American Frances Tiafoe, who fought past Miomir Kecmanovic 7-6(6) 7-6(5).

Roger Federer, a year older than Ferrer but enjoying a career renaissance, rallied from a set down to beat Moldovan surprise package Radu Albot 4-6 7-5 6-3. Federer, beaten by Dominic Thiem in last week’s BNP Paribas Open final, smashed 14 aces and broke Albot twice to advance to the third round but it was far from plain sailing for the 37-year-old against the world No. 46. Federer will next face Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic. — Agencies