Muguruza, Azarenka progress to set up fourth-round clash

Omnisports

March 27, 2016 9:33 AM

Garbine Muguruza and Victoria Azarenka will battle for a spot in the quarter-finals after both had comfortable wins on Sunday.

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Garbine Muguruza breezed into the fourth round of the Miami Open to set up a clash with Victoria Azarenka for a place in the quarter-finals.

Muguruza defeated Nicole Gibbs in straight-sets, while two-time champion Azarenka was just as dominant against Magda Linette, winning 6-3 6-0.

World number three and second seed Angelique Kerber had a much more difficult task against Kiki Bertens, battling from a set down before her Dutch opponent retired in the third. EASY DAY FOR THE SEEDS

Only one seed departed on Sunday, with ninth seed Roberta Vinci eliminated by Madison Keys 6-4 6-4.

Kerber, Azarenka and Muguruza were all joined in the next round by 24th seed Johanna Konta and 32nd seed Monica Niculescu.

Konta came from behind to beat Elena Vesnina 4-6 6-1 7-6 (7-3), while Niculescu eased past Coco Vandeweghe 6-4 6-1. MUGURUZA DOMINANT

The Spaniard dropped just two games on her way to a dominate victory over her American opponent.

Gibbs, ranked 95th in the world, had won in straight-sets on her way to the third round but Muguruza proved too high of a mountain to climb.

The match lasted just 56 minutes as fourth seed Muguruza won 6-1 6-0 to set up a fourth-round clash with Azarenka. KERBER ON THE ROPES

Kerber found herself a set down but recovered well before Bertens was forced to retire, with the score 1-6 6-2 3-0.

"I think Kiki's a great player," the German said in her on-court interview. "She played very well in the first set and I was not finding my rhythm at the beginning.

"But I was trying to stay in the match, trying to fight and play my game. At the end, of course, it's always sad when the opponent retires; I hope she gets very well very soon, but I'm happy to be in the next round." SERENA, HALEP AND RADWANSKA FEATURE

All top five seeds feature on Monday, with eight-time champion Serena Williams, Kerber, Agnieszka Radwanska, Muguruza and Simona Halep up against Svetlana Kuznetsova, Timea Babos, Timea Bacsinszky, Azarenka and Heather Watson respectively.

Omnisports

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