Sloane Stephens ousted an underwhelming Garbine Muguruza 6-3 6-4 to reach the Miami Open Quarter-Finals.
The start of the match produced a lot of breaks as both Women were very tentative on their serves and how they were approaching the match. There were four breaks in a row as Stephens couldn’t take advantage of the Wimbledon champion’s loose errors.
A frustrated Muguruza couldn’t gain the right aggression to test the American as she was once again broken in the eighth game of the match. The world number 12’s footwork was very impressive as she was generating an impressive amount of pace and accuracy off her forehand side. The Spaniard’s tactical incompetence cost her the first set as Stephens sealed the set in 37 minutes.
The second set saw a more frustrated yet aggressive world number three as she was starting to improve her accuracy of her shots, which resulted in efficiency on serve. However the Spaniard would once again return to her average tennis and wasn’t drawing much inspiration from her coaching camp.
Three breaks in a row was sealed with an easy return game by the US Open champion as she was nearing her way to victory. Despite some double faults, Stephens held her nerve to seal her place into the Quarter-Finals.
It was an underwhelming performance from Muguruza, who really didn’t push Stephens at all during the contest however the US Open deserves all the credit as beating a fellow grand slam champion isn’t easy under any circumstances.
The American will now play Angelique Kerber in the last eight after the German battled past Yafan Wang 6-7(1) 7-6(5) 6-3 in under three hours. Kerber, who is arguably playing the best tennis of her career, had a slow start but used her champions instincts to edge past the Chinese Qualifier.
Karolina Pliskova also made the Quarter-Finals in Miami after leading Zarina Diyas 6-2 2-1 before the Kazakhstani retired. The fifth seed will now play either Agnieszka Radwanska or Victoria Azarenka in the last eight.
