Sabalenka to meet Zheng in high-stakes Miami showdown
Aryna Sabalenka and Zheng Qinwen will resume their rivalry in the Round of 16 at the Miami Open after both players won their third-round matches in contrasting fashion at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.
World No. 1 and BNP Paribas Open champion Sabalenka pulled away from American Caty McNally under the lights in the night session, winning 10 of the last 12 games in her 6-4, 6-2 triumph, to follow Zheng's 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 comeback victory over No. 15 seed Madison Keys.
Miami: Scores | Draws | Order of play
The win was a notable one for Zheng, who is rounding into form after coming back to the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz following a major elbow injury that required surgery last year. It marked her first triumph over a Top 20 player in the PIF WTA Rankings since Roland Garros last spring -- and she moves on to face off against Sabalenka for a ninth time, in the hopes of securing her second win in their last three matches.
After dropping her first six tilts against Sabalenka, Zheng secured her first win in the head-to-head in Rome last May -- and she'll hope to be the one to end Sabalenka's bid for a second straight Miami title, as well as her hope of completing the Sunshine Double.
Anatomy of Zheng's comeback: After her 2 hour, 17-minute win over Keys concluded, Zheng confessed that she struggled to keep up with the pace coming at her from Keys' shots over the first set and early in the second.
"The ball was just like a bomb for me at the beginning. I couldn’t react. I haven’t had this speed of match in a long time," she said, and the scoreboard threatened to get away from her when she found herself trailing 0-40 on serve with Keys leading 6-4, 1-0.
But once she caught up to the speed of the game, the 2024 Olympic gold medalist couldn't be tamed. Zheng ended the match with 31 winners -- double that of Keys' 15 -- and 23 of those came in sets two and three.
After not having a break point in the first set, Zheng created 13 in the next two sets, and won four of them. She also saved 10 of 11 break points she faced in that span, including all nine in the second set.
Sabalenka keeps seeking "best tennis": The start of Sabalenka's match against McNally unfolded similarly to her prior round against another American Ann Li. In that match, Sabalenka was up 4-1 in the first set only to see Li level at 4-4, and against McNally, she lost a 4-2 lead due to inspired play from her opponent.
But, as Sabalenka, said in her on-court interview, the ninth game proved crucial. She needed six deuces to hold serve -- escaping from 15-30 in the process -- and broke McNally for a third time to wrap up the set. She then won four straight games from 2-2 in the second set to wrap up her win in 1 hour and 25 minutes.
McNally hit 20 winners to just nine unforced errors in the match overall -- and Sabalenka finding her stride at the right time was necessary. Nineteen of Sabalenka's 26 winners for the match came off her forehand side.
How will Sabalenka respond to Zheng's challenge? The top seed isn't overlooking the challenge posed by the returning Zheng, despite her dominance of the majority of their prior matches. Controlling the controllables will be important, she said.
“I’ll focus on myself. I’ll focus on my game. I’ll try to stay focused from the first point 'til the last," Sabalenka said. "She’s an incredible player. We played a lot of matches. I have a good record against her but it doesn’t say anything. It’s always tough battles. I’m always looking forward to play her. It’s always a fight and I really enjoy it.”