Tennis

Sharapova rolls, Azarenka pulls out in Miami

 

The Sports Network

Four-time Miami runner-up Maria Sharapova rolled to a straight-set victory in Friday's second round, while two-time champion Victoria Azarenka aggravated a right ankle injury and was forced to pull out of the Sony Open tennis event.

The French Open champion and third-seeded Sharapova, fresh off her big title at Indian Wells, needed less than an hour to dispose of Canadian wild card Eugenie Bouchard 6-2, 6-0.

Azarenka, a former world No. 1 and reigning Australian Open champion, was scheduled to meet American wild card Madison Keys in a second-round match on Day 4 at the Sony Open, but the second-seeded Belarusian was replaced in the draw by American lucky loser Lauren Davis, who outlasted Keys 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (9-7) to advance.

The 23-year-old star, who titled in Miami in 2009 and 2011, was also forced to pull out of a quarterfinal at the big WTA event in Indian Wells last week because of the injury.

Sixth-seeded German Angelique Kerber came from behind to beat former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-2, while 11th-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova eased past China's Zheng Jie 6-3, 6-1 on Friday.

Eighth-seeded Italian Sara Errani rolled past Slovak Daniela Hantuchova 6-3, 6-1, while 12th-seeded Ana Ivanovic cruised past Urszula Radwanska 6-2, 6-1.

Fourteenth-seeded Maria Kirilenko blasted American qualifier Bethanie Mattek- Sands 6-1, 6-4 to also advance to the third round, where she will take on 21st-seeded Czech Klara Zakopalova, who handled Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).

Fifteenth-seeded Italian Roberta Vinci came back to beat American Christina McHale 6-7 (2-7), 6-1, 6-3; 20th-seeded Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro overcame American Jamie Hampton 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3); 28th-seeded Romanian Sorana Cirstea fought back to best Silvia Soler-Espinosa 2-6, 7-5, 6-2; and 32nd-seeded Frenchwoman Alize Cornet battled back to beat Laura Robson, 5-7, 7-5, 6-1.

Former world No. 1 and 2008 Sony Open runner-up Jelena Jankovic outlasted American Victoria Duval 6-3, 7-5, while Simona Halep upended 26th-seeded Tamira Paszek 6-1, 6-7 (4-7), 7-5.

Elsewhere, 2006 Miami champ Svetlana Kuznetsova took out 18th-seeded and fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-4, 6-4 and 29th-seeded Russian Elena Vesnina vaulted past Croat Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-2.

Read more Tennis stories from the Miami Herald

Get your Miami Heat Fan Gear!

Join the
Discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere on the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

The Miami Herald uses Facebook's commenting system. You need to log in with a Facebook account in order to comment. If you have questions about commenting with your Facebook account, click here.

Have a news tip? You can send it anonymously. Click here to send us your tip - or - consider joining the Public Insight Network and become a source for The Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald.

Hide Comments

This affects comments on all stories.

Cancel OK

  • Videos

  • Quick Job Search

Enter Keyword(s) Enter City Select a State Select a Category