Sabalenka, Kontaveit bow out as seeds struggle on Day 3 in Miami

No.70 Irina-Camelia Begu earned her first Top 10 win since 2018 Madrid on Thursday night, defeating top seed Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the Miami Open. Begu’s victory closed out a tough Day 3 for the seeds in Miami, coming just minutes after No.65 Ann Li defeated No.3 seed Anett Kontaveit in three sets.

After Thursday’s action, only three seeds remain in the top half of the draw: No.8 Ons Jabeur, No.9 Danielle Collins, and No.22 Belinda Bencic.

Miami Open: Thursday’s results

Li scores first Top 10 win in Grampians Trophy rematch

Li earned the first Top 10 win of her career on Thursday night, defeating No.3 seed Anett Kontaveit 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 in the second round of the Miami Open. Li will face fellow American Alison Riske for a spot in the Round of 16.

This was a rematch of a match that never happened. Both Li and Kontaveit advanced to the final of the 2021 Grampians Trophy in Melbourne, but the final was not played due to scheduling issues. Their Miami meeting would be the first between the two.

“We were supposed to play earlier last year but we didn’t get to so I was really excited because she’s been doing really well,” Li said on court. “It was kind of a test for myself.”

Li came out firing in the first set, pocketing it quickly after just 23 minutes. The American fired nine winners to just four unforced errors in the opening set, while converting all 3 of her break point chances. In what would be a trend for Kontaveit throughout the match, the Estonian earned opportunities to break, but went 0 for 4 in the first set. 

“It’s always tough when you win any set 6-0, especially since she’s such a great competitor and fighter,” Li said. “I knew she was going to pick up her level and I had to do the same. 

The World No.7 would reel Li in over the course of the second set. Kontaveit finally broke serve to lead 4-2 and closed out the set three games later. Carrying her momentum into the final set, Kontaveit broke immediately to lead 2-0. But Li would not be denied on this night, as the Pennsylvania native got back on serve at 2-2. She then held off Kontaveit in a lengthy service game at 3-3, saving three break points to hold.

After 1 hour and 51 minutes, Li converted her second match point to break Kontaveit one final time and seal the win.

Begu knocks out top-seeded Sabalenka

The 31-year-old Romanian held off an inconsistent Sabalenka to win 6-4, 6-4 and advance to the third round for the first time since 2016, when Begu made the Round of 16. A quarterfinalist in Miami last year, Sabalenka could not break through the Begu serve, going 0 for 6 on break points for the match. 

With Sabalenka struggling to find her range from the baseline, Begu played a smart, disciplined match that gave the World No.5 little to work with. Begu made just 7 unforced errors in the match (8 winners), contrasted with Sabalenka’s 34 unforced errors and 26 winners. 

Highlights: Begu stuns Sabalenka in second-round upset

“I think I was really consistent the whole match,” Begu said. “I was serving well. I was playing for every ball, I was trying to hang in there and that was really important for me.”

Begu will face Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the third round. 

Unbreakable Bencic advances to face Watson

No.22 seed Belinda Bencic opened her campaign with a strong performance, defeating Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk 6-3, 6-1. The victory snapped a three-match slide for the reigning Olympic champion, with her last win coming in St. Petersburg.

Bencic will face Great Britain’s Heather Watson in the third round. Watson pulled off a dramatic comeback to notch her first Top 20 win in two years, saving match point to defeat No.20 Elina Svitolina 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4).