Tennis: Jabeur and Sakkari crash out in Miami

MIAMI – It was a day of upsets at the Miami Open on Friday, as fourth seed Ons Jabeur and seventh seed Maria Sakkari both crashed out in the second round.

Tunisian star Jabeur’s comeback from injury was halted when she lost to Russian qualifier Varvara Gracheva 6-2, 6-2.

While her defeat was straightforward, Greek Sakkari had to battle through a gruelling 3hr 4min battle in the south Florida sun but eventually fell to Canadian Bianca Andreescu – the former US Open winner now ranked 31st – 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.

Jabeur, beaten finalist at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2022, has been working her way back from injury and, on her return earlier in March, went out in the third round at Indian Wells.

She underwent surgery after suffering a knee injury at the Australian Open, and subsequently missed the WTA Tour’s Middle East swing. The 28-year-old struggled against the 22-year-old Gracheva and had two medical timeouts during the 1hr 11min match.

The win was the biggest scalp yet for Gracheva, who in March reached her first WTA final, losing in Austin to Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk.

“The plan was, like all matches, to be as stable as possible, to try to make her work as much points as possible, and of course wait for comfortable ones to attack,” she said after her third career win over a top-10 opponent.

“I’ve just probably caught this wave where I’m stable, where I always have a chance to play my game, be aggressive, cause troubles for the others. I’ve just got to try to keep rolling on this way.”

Andreescu, the 2019 US Open winner, had eliminated Britain’s Emma Raducanu in the previous round and after losing the first set to Sakkari’s powerful stroke play, she settled into a solid pattern of steady returns, peppered with aggressive winners as she took control of the second set.

She was unable to convert on two match points at the end, offering a glimmer of hope to her opponent, but finally grabbed the win when the Greek found the net.

“I felt like I was on my heels a lot of the time during the match, but I made every ball,” said Andreescu.

“I fought to the end, and I think I played the important points just a little bit better today.”

The 22-year-old Canadian has now claimed three wins over top-10 opponents since returning to the tour last April from a six-month hiatus due to mental health issues. “It’s just another step in gaining most of my confidence back,” she added.

“I’m trying to be as fearless as I can be. I feel like I’m getting there, and wins like this obviously help.”

In the men’s draw, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz motored into the third round with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Argentinian Facundo Bagnis.

The Spanish top seed, looking to back up his Indian Wells triumph with a Miami title to complete the coveted “Sunshine Double”, barely broke a sweat as Bagnis was simply unable to keep pace with the variety in his game. AFP, REUTERS