Barty and Svitolina move on at Miami Open after hard-fought victories

It was all but smooth sailing for Ashleigh Barty and Elina Svitolina who move on at the Miami Open following 3-set victories over Azarenka and Kvitova.

It was a well-contested match between Barty and Azarenka where we saw two sides to both players. In the first set, it was all Barty who played better forcing Azarenka off her style. That yielded fast results as Ash won it 6-1. Azarenka would return her the favor, quite literally. The game got turned upside down with Azarenka winning the 2nd set 6-1.

The final one was a proper battle as Barty took a 2-0 lead before Vika fought back to make it 2-2. Azarenka would then have several break points but Ash held on and even took the 4-2 lead. She would add one more break closing it out with 6-2. A strong victory from Ash who is looking better as time goes on.

In the other fascinating match, we saw Svitolina battle it out with Kvitova. In the beginning, it was all Kvitova who smashed Svitolina rather easily in the opening set 6-2. The 2nd set was a very tight one with neither player allowing anything on serve. Very late in the set Svitolina broke through taking a 6-5 lead which became a 7-5 2nd set victory.

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The start of the 2nd set featured a very long game on Kvitova's serve which she lost. Svitolina would then go on to take a double break lead 3-0. Kvitova would pull both backs even taking a 4-3 lead. Svitolina, who was playing the best match this year, would not be denied.

She broke Kvitova once more with a combination of timely winners and some poor mistakes by Kvitova. She served for the match at 5-4 but got broken. Kvitova would serve for the lead but she too got broken so Svitolina had another chance at the victory.

This time she would end it and it is a huge comeback win from Svitolina who played a sensational 2nd set followed by a very strong 3rd. She moves on at the Miami Open.

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The defending champ continues 🔛 @ashbarty defeats Azarenka, 6-1, 1-6, 6-2. #MiamiOpen

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