Anhelina Kalinina rallied to record a 5-7, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Caroline Wozniacki on Thursday in the second round of the Miami Open at Miami Gardens, Fla. The 32nd-seeded Kalinina was trailing 5-2 in the second set and stood one point away from losing before saving the match point. She won that game as part of five straight to even the match at a set apiece. In the third round, the Ukrainian won three of the final four games to cap the comeback victory in a marathon match that lasted 3 hours and 18 minutes.
Wozniacki, the former World No. 1 who recently came out of retirement, was plagued by seven double faults. Kalinina had a 5-1 edge in aces. Kalinina’s next match will come against the winner of Friday’s expected matchup between second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus and Spain’s Paula Badosa. Sabalenka’s former boyfriend, Konstantin Koltsov, died earlier this week in Miami. The former NHL player was 42. Miami-Dade Police Department called it an “apparent suicide” with no foul play suspected. Sabalenka said earlier this week she plans to play in the tournament.
In other matches, No. 8 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Yuan Yue of China. No. 9 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia also advanced and recorded a 7-6 (3), 6-4 win over Germany’s Laura Siegemund. No. 11 seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil was a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 winner over France’s Diane Parry, while Yulia Putintseva recorded a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 victory over No. 13 seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia.
No. 17 seed Madison Keys registered a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Russian Diana Shnaider, and No. 22 Anna Kalinskaya of Russia sped to a 6-2, 6-2 win over China’s Wang Xiyu. No. 24 Katie Boulter of Great Britain prevailed 7-6 (5), 1-0 when Brenda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic retired due to illness. Taylor Townsend notched a 6-2, 6-2 win over 25th-seeded Elise Mertens of Belgium. Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska, seeded 28th, was a 7-5, 7-5 winner over Daria Saville of Australia. Greet Minnen of Belgium beat Ukraine’s
Lesia Tsurenko 7-5, 6-1. Seventh-seeded Qinwen Zheng of China advanced when the Czech Republic’s Katerina Siniakova retired while trailing 4-6, 6-3, 1-0. Fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan edged Denmark’s Clara Tauson 3-6, 7-5, 6-4. No. 27 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus defeated the United States’ Peyton Stearns 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, and China’s Xinyu Wang upset 16th-seeded Veronika Kudermetova of Russia 6-3, 6-2.
