March Madness at Miami Open. Serena Williams withdraws, Osaka loses, Federer survives
March Madness hit the Miami Open on Saturday as both sides of the women’s bracket busted with a shocking loss by world No. 1 Naomi Osaka and the withdrawal of eight-time champion Serena Williams.
Williams, who seemed fine during and after her opening victory Friday, pulled out of the tournament on Saturday afternoon, citing a left knee injury. A few hours later, Osaka was eliminated 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 by 27th-ranked Su-Wei Hsieh of Chinese Taipei in the third round.
On the men’s side, Roger Federer made his debut at the tournament’s new Hard Rock Stadium home, and avoided an upset by upstart qualifier Radu Albot of Moldova, who was coming off his first ATP Tour title at Delray Beach.
Federer lost the first set, and it appeared maybe the men’s bracket was going topsy-turvy, too, but the 20-time Grand Slam champion survived and advanced 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. The record-crowd of 32,831, much of which spent the day sunning, dining and watching outdoor matches, came in the stadium to see Federer.
“Radu put me through the wringer,” Federer said on court after the match. “He was really tough. I had to lift my game. I feel very relieved.”
He said the feel of the court was different from Key Biscayne, where the event was held for 30 years.
“It’s always going to feel very different in a massive place like this,” he said. “It was a good atmosphere at the end. I thought it was quite electric, how it usually is in Miami. I’m happy that hasn’t gone away.
“At the end it’s just about finding a way. These are the matches that are so key during the year for any player, is when you’re not sometimes playing your best, when you’re in search mode, that you find it somehow, you squeeze through.”
Osaka was unable to do that.
Although Hsieh is not well-known to casual tennis fans, Osaka was quite familiar with the 33-year-old as they played a tense third-round match at the Australian Open two months ago. Hsieh led 7-5, 4-2 that day, but Osaka rallied and won. Osaka was not as fortunate this time.
“I don’t think I ever underestimated her because all the times I played her was three sets, and in Australia she should have won, honestly, but I found a way to win it,” said Osaka, the defending champion of the Australian Open and U.S. Open. “I think maybe I overestimated myself.”
She explained that there is a difference between having confidence and getting ahead of yourself, and Osaka felt that on Saturday she got ahead of herself. She admitted that Hsieh’s unpredictable style gave her trouble, and that Hsieh hit down the line on balls Osaka thought she’d hit cross-court.
“I was kind of immature today,” she said. “I was thinking everything was on my racket...I felt myself relax a bit on her serve because I thought I could serve it out anyway. I have to figure out ways to focus more on each point and not think I can just turn it on and off. I was thinking that last time I played her I was in a bigger hole, so I should be able to dig myself out of the hole this time.”
Asked whether maybe the pressure of being ranked No. 1 is getting to her at times, she said: “I feel I’ve dealt with the stress of people asking me do I have pressure because I have the No. 1 next to my name. I thought I was doing fine with that, but I guess I’m not because I think more about winning now compared to the matches before.”
It was not the first time Hsieh upset a top-ranked player. She beat then-No. 1 Simona Halep at Wimbledon last year. After the match Saturday, Hsieh wept as she ran to hug her coaches.
Osaka’s exit matched the earliest by a top-seeded woman in tournament history. And it was the first time in 64 matches that Osaka lost after winning the first set.
Osaka and Williams were on opposite sides of the draw, setting up a possible rematch of the controversial 2018 U.S. Open final, which Osaka won. Osaka had also beaten Williams in the first round of the 2018 Miami Open a year ago. Alas, both stars are heading home earlier than anyone expected.
“I am disappointed to withdraw from the Miami Open due to a left knee injury,” Williams said in a news release. “It was an amazing experience to play at the Hard Rock Stadium this year and I would like to thank the Miami Open for putting on an amazing event. I hope to be back next year to play at this one-of-a-kind tournament in front of the incredible fans here in Miami.”
Williams won her opening match 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 against Rebecca Peterson on Friday. The only obstacle she mentioned during her press conference was tricky lighting on Stadium Court.
It is the second tournament in a row from which Williams withdrew. She retired from her third-round match against Garbine Muguruza at Indian Wells, Calif., two weeks ago with a viral illness. She had gone up 3-0 over Muguruza but then lost the next seven games and decided to call it quits.
Williams last won the Miami Open in 2015 and last year lost in the first round to Naomi Osaka, who beat her again at the U.S. Open and took over the world No. 1 ranking.
She has played two tournaments this season, the Australian Open, where she lost to Karolina Pliskova in the quarterfinals and then Indian Wells. Her last title was at the 2017 Australian Open before she took an extended maternity leave later that year.
With the withdrawal, the Miami Open’s No. 18 seed Quiang Wang of China will advance to the fourth round in Williams’ place.
In other second-round men’s matches, No. 6 seed Kevin Anderson beat Jaume Munar 6-4, 3-6, 6-3; Joao Sousa beat American Steve Johnson 7-6 (8-6), 6-4; Filip Krajinovic beat Stan Wawrinka 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5); Jordan Thompson upset No. 10 seed Karen Khachanov 6-2, 6-3; American Reilly Opelka upset No. 21 Argentine Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 3-6, 6-4; Denis Shapovalov beat Daniel Evans 4-6, 6-1, 6-3; and Leonardo Mayer won the all-Argentine match over Guido Pella 6-2, 6-4.
Women’s winners included No. 3 seed and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, No. 13 Caroline Wozniacki, Caroline Garcia, Ashleigh Barty, Gabriela Dabrowski, and Julia Goerges.
This story was originally published March 23, 2019 at 8:14 PM.