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Top seed Halep survives Dodin scare to advance in Miami

March 23, 2018
Oceane Dodin of France serves against Simona Halep of Romania (not pictured) on day three of the Miami Open at Tennis Center at Crandon Park. Halep won 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. — Reuters
Oceane Dodin of France serves against Simona Halep of Romania (not pictured) on day three of the Miami Open at Tennis Center at Crandon Park. Halep won 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. — Reuters

MIAMI — World No. 1 Simona Halep survived a scare from Oceane Dodin on Thursday, beating the lucky loser 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, to reach the Miami Open third round, and while the Romanian was unhappy with her performance she said it had been a "good day at the office".

Halep, who almost joined eight other seeds eliminated on a day of upsets in south Florida, was delighted with the way she dug in and fought in the deciding third set on center court.

"Maybe previous years I couldn't win the matches in the third set, so I'm really happy that I changed this to myself, and I feel stronger," Halep told reporters. "So when I go to the third set, I don't panic. I'm relaxed and I'm just fighting till the end, and I'm sure that I have a big chance to win the match, so I just go for it."

An upset looked possible in the first set when Dodin's big first serve troubled Halep, who was crushed by eventual champion Naomi Osaka in the Indian Wells semifinals last week.

But the defensive-minded Halep, who at times reached down to rub a troublesome right ankle, improved as the match wore on, getting the better of France's Dodin in extended rallies and in the key moments.

The match was in the balance until Halep had break points at 5-5 in the third set and jumped all over a weak second serve from the 21-year-old Dodin to move ahead. Halep won the next game to love, rocketing down an ace on match point to set up a meeting with 30th-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska, who defeated Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck 6-3, 7-6(7-4).

"I felt just that I played bad, but it's a good day at the office and I'll take it," Halep said. "You have these days, and when you don't give up, it's the most important thing. I think that's why I won today, because I didn't give up."

In an evening match, American 14th seed Madison Keys retired with what appeared to be a left hamstring injury early in the second set against three-times champion Victoria Azarenka, who led 7-6(7-5), 2-0.

Keys had the leg taped by a trainer after losing a first set that stretched to over an hour, but lasted just two more games before calling it quits. Among the seeds exiting the tournament were No. 7 Carolina Garcia of France and No. 12 Julia Goerges of Germany.

Kuhn gets early taste of tour victory

Nicola Kuhn became the youngest Spaniard to win an ATP World Tour match since Rafa Nadal after the 18-year-old's 7-6(7-4), 6-4 victory over Darian King at the Miami Open on Thursday. Kuhn, who turned 18 on Tuesday and is ranked 211th in the world, became the youngest Spanish winner since 16-times grand slam champion Nadal did it aged 17 in 2004.

Also on Thursday, Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis earned himself a second-round match against Roger Federer after thrashing Calvin Hemery of France 6-1, 6-2, in barely an hour.

Kuhn, who was born in Austria before his parents moved to Spain when he was a baby, said it was a "special day". "It was a very tough match. I'm happy with today's victory, but now I need to focus on my next match.

Some of the tournament's big names will take to center court on Friday, with second seed Marin Cilic, fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro and ninth seed Novak Djokovic in second-round action. — Reuters


March 23, 2018
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