Bianca Andreescu booked her place in the last 16 of the Miami Open for the third time in her career thanks to a straight sets win.
The 2019 US Open champion successfully defeated the 2020 Australian Open champion, Sofia Kenin 6-4, 6-4 in the third round of the 2023 Miami Open season.
It was the fifth meeting between the two tennis players, but it was their first meeting since they became Grand Slam champions. Their last meeting occurred in Toronto in the 2019 season which was won by the Canadian tennis player who is now superior in their head to head with 4-1.
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The Canadian previously made it to the fourth round of the Miami Open in 2019, not long after she won the title at Indian Wells. Two seasons later, he advanced to the final of the tournament, but he was forced to withdraw from both matches due to injury. In 2019 he withdrew with a shoulder injury against Anett Kontaveit and in 2021 an ankle injury forced him to withdraw from his fight against Ashleigh Barty.
“The last time I played here in 2021, I didn’t enjoy it,” admits Andreescu. “I didn’t feel that I deserved to be in that final. But this season, I feel like a completely different person and I definitely feel like I deserve to be here right now.”
The match was dominated by serves without much long rallies. Of the 110 points played, 87 of them ended with five hits and only three needed more than ten hits.
During one and a half sets, the Canadian almost remained untouched on her serve. She built a 6-4, 4-1 lead after dropping just nine points on serve. The home tennis player, Kenin was also able to hold serve, but the Canadian international found a slick return to break the hosts to 2-1 in the first set and 4-1 in the second.
Kenin showed tenacity by winning several games to make it 3-4 in the second set. But the effort lacked much confidence to turn things around and Andreescu eventually sealed victory by converting his first match point opportunity when the hosts’ forehand return nestled into the net.
“He hit the ball really flat and when he warmed up he was amazing,” added Andreescu. “I think he serves very well. I also served well. But my serve at crucial moments and some of my returns were the factors that helped me through this match.”
The fourth round match of the Miami Open against Ekaterina Alexandrova is the next task for Bianca Andreescu.
The 18th seed, Alexandrova was able to beat the ninth seed, Belinda Bencic 7-6, 6-3 in 1 hour 55 minutes.
The head to head of the two players is now tied at 3-3, a rivalry that started in the 2019 season. Alexandrova will make her debut in the fourth round of the Miami Open and will face Andreescu for the first time.
