Badosa sets Pegula clash after defeating Fruhvirtova to make 1st Miami QF

World No.6 Paula Badosa advanced to her first Miami Open quarterfinal on Monday night after defeating 16-year-old wildcard Linda Fruhvirtova, 6-2, 6-3 in the fourth round. The Spaniard will face 16th seed Jessica Pegula after the American booked her spot after Anhelina Kalinina retired down 6-0. 

Having won the title in Sydney and progressed to the semifinals last week in Indian Wells, Badosa has reached her third quarterfinal of the season. Only World No.2 Iga Swiatek (5) has more quarterfinals in 2022. Badosa’s previous best result in Miami came last year, where she made the third round.

“Today was a very tough day for me,” Badosa said. “I didn’t wake up feeling very well so I didn’t know if I would be able to finish the match. I always say I want to be a fighter no matter what so that’s what I did today. I kept fighting and I don’t really know how I won. But I’m very happy.”

Coming off wins over Marie Bouzkova and Yulia Putintseva, Badosa faced the tricky task of facing a new face on the tour in Fruhvirtova. In the Round of 16 in her first appearance at a WTA 1000 event, Fruhvirtova scored wins over 20th seed Elise Mertens and 12th seed Victoria Azarenka (by retirement) to become the youngest woman to reach the Round of 16 at the Miami Open since Tatiana Golovin in 2004. She was also the first woman under 17-years-old to win three main draw matches at a WTA 1000 event since Coco Gauff last year in Dubai.

Despite feeling under the weather during the match, Badosa dug in her heels and ground down Fruhvirtova over the course of their 82-minute physical clash. The key to Badosa’s win was her physicality, as she endured Fruhvirtova’s impressive baseline consistency while coming up with her best tennis when she needed it most. 

Badosa, who will rise into the Top 3 of the WTA Rankings after Miami, converted 5 of 6 break points in the match while saving 5 of 6 break points on her own serve. She finished with 19 winners to 17 unforced errors. Fruhvirtova hit 13 winners to 20 unforced errors.

Pegula advances to first Miami Open quarterfinal

Badosa will face World No.22 Pegula for a spot in the semifinals. The American won the first six games of her Round of 16 rematch with Anhelina Kalinina before the Ukrainian retired. With wins over former champion Sloane Stephens and No.17 seed Elena Rybakina, Pegula has not lost a set en route to the fifth WTA 1000 quarterfinal of her career.