Miami Masters: Wozniacki, Jankovic Ease Through
Wozniacki passes Sands to meet Hantuchova in the third term
Top seed Caroline Wozniacki moved on at the Miami Masters following a two-set triumph over Bethanie Mattek-Sands whom she defeated 6-2, 7-5, setting a third round meeting with Danila Hantuchova.
World No. 1 marched past the American in the first only to allow Sands go three games adrift in the second term. Wozniacki was 2-5 downed but managed to build a five-game late rally that found the crowd favorite stunned and beaten 7-5. The Danish player will next play 30th-ranked Hantuchova, who is the winner of the 2011 Pattaya City event.
On the other side, Wozniacki is chasing her second title of the year after the Dubai one won last month. Hantuchova eased past Melanie Oudin in the second round whom she defeated 6-1, 6-3 to approach her second success of the year. The two will meet for the third time, Wozniacki leading the head to head confrontation 2-0. She last upset the Slovakian at the Ponte Vedra Beach back in 2009.
Ninth-seeded Jelena Jankovic has progressed into the third round after ousting Romania’s Monica Niculescu in two sets, 6-3, 6-1 to face Klara Zakopalova in the third term. The Czech also managed to secure a spot into the next round thanks to a straight-set victory over Elena Baltacha of Scotland whom she defeated 7-6, 6-3.
On the same half of the table, Samantha Stosur eased past Jie Zheng, who had followed a struggling first round victory over Romanian Sorana Cirstea, in two sets, 6-2, 6-1 to set a meeting with Lucie Safarova whom she’ll play for the fourth time. The Czech has already beaten the Aussie three times, last occasion at the 2009 Brisbane event. Safarova reached the third term following a 6-2, 6-4 win over Patty Schnyder, who suffered another early exit.
Said Stosur, who will be looking for her first success over the Czech: “I played quite well. I don’t think I hit the ball out of this world fantastic, but I did what I had to do. Against a player like Zheng, you want to be able to do that from start to finish. She competes hard for every single point.”
Iveta Benesova and Andrea Petkovic will also fight for a place into the fourth round. They both progressed into the next term following straight-set wins. Benesova passed Flavia Pennetta of Italy 6-3, 6-0, while the German had to struggle a bit more with crowd favorite Jamie Hampton whom she finally defeated 6-2, 7-5. The two will meet for the fourth time, Petkovic having already won the previous three meetings, last occasion at the Bad Gastein in 2010.
Indian Wells semi finalist Yanina Wickmayer is to meet Elena Vesnina in the second round, the winner of the two being expected to face either Shahar Peer or Anabel Medina in the third round. Maria Sharapova, whose aim this season is to claim the French Open, is to meet Petra Martic of Croatia in the second round. The Russian, who starts the game as favorite, could play either Nadria Petrova or Sabine Lisicki in the third term.
Svetlana Kuznetsova has also advanced into the third round at the Floridan Masters after smashing Simona Halep of Romania, 6-0, 6-4 and is expected to play the winner between Shuai Peng and Aravane Rezai. Alexandra Dulgheru is the only Romanian remained on course in Miami. She managed to defeat Chanelle Scheepers in two easy sets, 6-3, 6-2 to play either Johanna Larsson or this year’s Australian Open runner-up Li Na.
One of the main favorites Francesca Schiavone is to play Angelique Kerber in the second round, the winner being expected to face either Lourdes Dominguez or Tsvetana Pironkova. On the same half of the draw, Maria Kirilenko will confront Sania Mirza in the second round, the Russian being directly qualified for the next term. Agnieszka Radwanska has also found out her next opponent. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova beat Sloane Stephens of United States 6-4, 6-2 to meet the Poland player in the next round.
Ayumi Morita defeated Heather Watson 7-5, 6-2 and set a Marion Bartoli second round clash. Indian Wells French finalist is directly qualified into the second term. A first Russian clash will be brought by Ekaterina Makarova and Alise Kleybanova who are to meet for the fourth time. Makarova has already defeated her compatriot two times, last occasion at the 2010 Seoul event.
Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova will fight Jarmila Groth for a place into the third round, while Dinara Safina and Vera Zvonareva are to set another Russian clash, the two being expected to meet in the second round. The 2009 Miami Masters champion Victoria Azarenka will start chasing her second title in Florida today against Lucie Hradecka of Czech Republic.
Timea Bacsinszky has guaranteed a place into the second term after besting Vesna Manasieva in the opener 6-3, 6-2 to play tough Dominika Cibulkova in the second round. This season’s Monterrey winner Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is to fight Agnes Szavay for a place into the third term after the Hungarian managed to pass Shuai Zhang 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Varvara Lepchenko is to face the 2011 Brisbane and Paris champion Petra Kvitova in the second term after she defeated American Coco Vandeweghe. Meanwhile, Kaia Kanepi and Virginie Razzano will confront for a spot into the same third round. Finally, Kimiko Date-Krumm will also face one of the main favorites and former world champion Ana Ivanovic in the second round. The Serbian is still expected to claim her first title of the year.
Maria Jose Martinez will next play Georgian teenager Anna Tatishvili for the second time. The Spaniard has already grabbed a win over the unranked youngster at the 2008 Bogota event. Belgian Kim Clijsters is to play Anastasiya Yakimova in the second round, the former world champion being expected to defend her title in Miami.11
