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Maia, Anisimova advance

March 21, 2018
Beatriz Hadad Maia of Brazil in action during her straight sets victory against Heather Watson of Great Britain at the Miami Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Tuesday. — AFP
Beatriz Hadad Maia of Brazil in action during her straight sets victory against Heather Watson of Great Britain at the Miami Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Tuesday. — AFP

KEY BISCAYNE — American teenager Amanda Anisimova, fresh off an impressive run at Indian Wells, beat China’s Wang Qiang 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 at the Miami Open on Tuesday to set up a second round clash with Spanish third seed Garbine Muguruza.

The 16-year-old wild card, who had never won a WTA main-draw match until this month’s BNP Paribas Open where she reached the fourth round, broke the world number 53 five times during a 98-minute match in which she committed six double faults.

Next up for Anisimova, ranked 130th in the world, is Wimbledon champion Muguruza, who will be eager to get back to competition after falling at the first hurdle in Indian Wells.

Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia overcame some early pressure to defeat Briton Heather Watson 7-6(3), 6-2. Watson had a chance to serve for the opening set but squandered it and then allowed the Brazilian to run away with the match.

Haddad Maia will next face No. 31 seed Zhang Shuai.

Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic looked headed for an early exit when she fell behind 4-0 in the deciding set against Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko but the Croatian-born world No.90 reeled off seven of the next eight games to prevail 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.

American wild card Bernarda Pera advanced when she stunned Spanish world No. 68 Lara Arruabarrena 7-5, 6-4 to set up a second-round match with Belgian 22rd seed Elise Mertens.

Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi was leading Christina McHale 3-1 but retired 31 minutes into the match, gifting the American passage into the second round where she will face Czech Barbora Strycova.

Also advancing on the first day of the main draw in Miami were Belgians Kirsten Flipkens and Alison Van Uytvanck, Swede Johanna Larsson, Hungary’s Timea Babos, Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich and American wild card Claire Liu.

Canadian Eugenie Bouchard beat American wildcard Allie Kiick 6-2, 6-2 to be among a parade of former top 20 players to win their first round qualifying matches Monday.

Bouchard, a former Wimbledon finalist who has fallen outside the top 100 in the world rankings since reaching a career-high fifth in 2014, fired seven aces as she dispatched Kiick.

The 24-year-old Canadian, who last month won a slip-and-fall lawsuit against the US Tennis Association over an incident at the 2015 US Open that left her with a concussion, was playing her first match since a first-round loss at Indian Wells two weeks ago.

Yanina Wickmayer, who climbed to a career-high 12th in the rankings shortly after reaching the Miami Open quarter-finals in 2010, also advanced but needed nearly 2-1/2 hours to earn a 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-4 win over Australia’s Olivia Rogowska.

Andrea Petkovic booked her spot in the second round of qualifying when German compatriot Sabine Lisicki retired. Petkovic was leading 4-6, 6-3, 3-1.

Former French Open runner-up Sara Errani, who was ranked fifth in the world in 2013, fell at the first hurdle after being beaten 6-4 5-7 7-6(2) by Czech Tereza Martincova.

Tomic bows out

Bernard Tomic’s bid to kick-start his career after slipping to 181st in the world hit a speed bump Tuesday when the 25-year-old Australian was knocked out in the first round of a second-tier tournament in France.

Tomic, once touted as a top-10 player, was beaten 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 by France’s Antonie Hoang at the tournament in Lille.

It was his first outing since losing in the third round of qualifying for the Australian Open in Melbourne in January, a defeat that then saw him snap at reporters.

That setback followed a forgettable 2017 season, during which he declared himself “bored” by tennis at Wimbledon and spoke of feeling “trapped” during media interviews.

Tomic, who was a contestant in a reality television show after the Australian Open, then put himself at loggerheads with Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt by saying Australia would not win the title if he was not picked.

Hewitt said it was unlikely Tomic would play under him again. — Agencies


March 21, 2018
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