Sinner survives five match points; Gauff, Norrie, Swiatek advance

Miami: Jannik Sinner saved five match points to advance past Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta 5-7 7-5 7-5 in a sensational display in the third round of the Miami Open on Sunday.

Carreno Busta had Sinner on the ropes in the 10th game of the second set, nearly breaking him for the match before the Italian recovered to hold his serve and converted on a chance in the next game.

They traded breaks in the third before a marathon 10th game in which the Spaniard nearly broke his opponent for the win four times.

The world number 11 Sinner, who launched 15 aces across the net across the entire match, survived and converted on a chance in the next game to seize the advantage.

Serving for the match, he clinched the affair with a forehand winner as the crowd at Miami leapt to its feet and cheered.

The 2021 runner-up next faces Australian Nick Kyrgios, who put in a clinical performance to down Italian Fabio Fognini 6-2 6-4, dropping just five first-serve points.

Elsewhere in the day's action, American Coco Gauff kept alive her bid for a maiden WTA 1000 title, firing off five aces to overcome China's Zhang Shuai 7-6(1) 7-5 in a tightly fought contest.

British number one Cameron Norrie overcame a false start to keep his hopes of winning a second Masters 1000 title alive, beating Frenchman Hugo Gaston 6-3 7-5.

The in-form Ruud dispatched Alexander Bublik 6-3 6-2 in less than an hour and had the best seat in the house when his Kazakh opponent produced a highlight-reel-worthy shot in the fifth game of the second set. Bublik flipped his racquet over and tapped an overhead shot with the handle.

Spanish fifth seed Paula Badosa put up a pristine performance to topple Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva 6-3 6-2. Putintseva was so frustrated with her error-filled display that she slammed her racquet with such force to the ground that it flew back up and almost hit her.

Badosa, who won last year's Indian Wells, next faces 16-year-old Czech wildcard Linda Fruhvirtova, who advanced after former world number one Victoria Azarenka abruptly retired midway through the second set of their contest.

Fruhvirtova was leading 6-2 3-0 when Azarenka, who pulled out of Doha last month with an injury, informed the chair umpire that she was done and briskly walked off the court.

Poland's tennis ace and soon to be world No. 1 after Ash Barty's retirement, Iga Swiatek extended her winning streak by beating Madison Brengle of the US 6-0, 6-3 to make her maiden Round of 16 on Monday (IST).

Swiatek, the 20-year-old former French Open champion, will take on another American, Coco Gauff for a place in the quarterfinal.

Swiatek, currently ranked No.2 in the world, extended her career-best winning streak to 13 matches by displaying sharp form that has seen her sweep the first two WTA 1000s of the season. Coming off her win in Indian Wells last week, the Polish player is aiming to become the fourth woman to win the 'Sunshine Double'. If Swiatek manages to win at Miami, she will join Germany's Steffi Graf (1994, 1996), Belgium's Kim Clijsters (2005) and Belarusian Victoria Azarenka (2016) to triumph at both Indian Wells and Miami in the same season.

Swiatek fired 12 winners to Brengle's one in the opening set and finished the match with 25 winners to 4 for the American.

No.28 seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic also moved into the Round of 16 for the fifth time in her career with a 7-5, 6-1 win over American qualifier Lauren Davis.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova is now just a win away from matching her career-best Miami Open performance, which were quarterfinal runs in 2014 and 2019.

She will face No.21 seed Veronika Kudermetova of Russia in the Round of 16.

Also read: Nick Kyrgios crushes Rublev, to meet Fognini in Miami Open ATP tournament

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