And then there were eight.
After a rain-soaked start to the tournament, which pushed back play and led to some insanely packed days at Hard Rock Stadium, the sun came out, the temperature rose and the 96-player draw slowly started to whittle down. At last it started to feel like the Sunshine Double -- and the strong play reflected that.
Now we're in the home stretch at the Miami Open, with four Top 10 players -- including the defending champion -- still in contention for the title.
Here's a look at the best of the best from the first four rounds in Miami, in our latest WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz Week in Review.
Star of the Week
Victoria Mboko
You could make a very strong case for any of the quarterfinalists, but I'm going with Victoria Mboko, who week in and week out continues to prove that she's a legitimate Top 10 player.
After dominating Anna Blinkova in her opening match and then beating Anastasia Zakharova with relative ease, the 19-year-old Canadian met Mirra Andreeva for the third time already this season.
In what is shaping up to be a budding rivalry between two incredibly talented teenagers, Mboko and Andreeva -- who also happen to be doubles partners -- split their first two meetings, in the Adelaide final and then in Doha.
They split their first two sets in this Round of 16 matchup on Monday, but Mboko took total control in the decider, winning the rubber match 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-0.
Mboko will play Karolina Muchova next for a spot in the semifinals.
Breakthrough Player of the Week
Hailey Baptiste
Seven of the eight players in the Miami Open quarterfinals are in the Top 15 of the PIF WTA Rankings.
The lone exception is Hailey Baptiste, who is having one of the best weeks of her career in South Florida. The 24-year-old, currently ranked No. 45, moved into her first career WTA 1000 quarterfinal after upsetting Jelena Ostapenko on Monday.
Earlier in the week she upset No. 19 seed Liudmila Samsonova and No. 9 Elina Svitolina, both in straight sets. She has now won four matches in five days, and has yet to drop a set.
She's stared down every challenge in front of her, but her next one will be the most daunting yet: defending champion Sabalenka, who is looking to sweep the Sunshine Double. This will be their first career meeting.
Upset of the Week
Magda Linette d. Iga Swiatek [2], second round
Forget the upset of the week -- this was the upset of the year, and one of the biggest upsets in recent memory.
Linette, who came into this match ranked No. 50, lost the first set decisively. But she gutted out the second 7-5 to force a decider, and then stunningly took the third for the 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 win.
After the loss, the six-time Grand Slam champion struggled to make sense of what had just happened.
"I'm super disappointed and upset with my performance," Swiatek told reporters after her exit. "I feel like I carry a lot of expectations and I can't really fulfill them right now. I need to get rid of them because my game hasn't been good enough to have any expectations. I think I am a bit confused, but there's no way but forward and I'm just going to try hard to work back from that."
To further contextualize how significant of an upset this was...
Stat of the Week
73-1
Prior to her loss to Linette, Swiatek had won 73 consecutive opening matches at tournaments, dating all the way back to the 2021 WTA Finals.
Which brings us to...
Biggest Off-Court News of the Week
Swiatek and Wim Fissette part ways
In the aftermath of the upset, Swiatek announced on Instagram that she would no longer be working with Wim Fissette, who she hired in October 2024 and won Wimbledon with.
"After many months of working together with my coach Wim Fissette, I’ve decided to take a different path," she wrote in Polish on Instagram. "It was an intense time full of challenges and many important experiences. I’m grateful for his support, experience, and everything we achieved together -- including one of my biggest dreams in sport."
The rest of Swiatek's team will remain unchanged, she wrote.
Match of the Week
Asia Muhammad and Erin Routliffe d. Venus Williams and Leylah Fernandez, first round
Playing together for the first time since reaching the quarterfinals of the US Open last year, Leylah Fernandez and Venus Williams looked strong in the first set, taking it 6-3. Muhammad and Routliffe leveled it in the second, and then we were treated to one of the most entertaining tiebreaks of the year.
Muhammad and Routliffe saved six (!) match points, then won it 13-11 for the wild 3-6, 6-3, 13-11 victory.
Muhammad and Routliffe won their following match over Miyu Kato and Yang Zhaoxuan, and will play top-seeded Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini for a spot in the semifinals on Wednesday.
Full Circle Moment of the Week
From childhood idol to first-round opponent
Francesca Jones grew up idolizing Venus Williams as a kid. In fact, she still has a poster of her on her childhood bedroom wall.
So it was certainly surreal when they practiced together in Austin last month, and even more so this past week when they squared off in the first round in Miami. Jones won the match 7-5, 7-5, and then in her on-court interview shared how meaningful it was to share a court with the 45-year-old icon.
"She's a game-changer," Jones said. "In fact, I told her at the net I pretty much still say goodnight to her and Serena on the wall of my childhood home every night. I was someone who was told I could never play tennis, and if it weren't for those two women, I'm not sure I would have made the step to do it.
"My dad took me to Centre Court to watch them play at 5 years old, and they're the reason I'm here today."
Point of the Week
From line to line, then up and over
After trading groundstrokes with Sorana Cirstea, and running from sideline to sideline to stay alive in the point, Gauff came to the net to force her opponent in, then finished it with a backhand lob volley that sailed perfectly over her head.
Social Moment of the Week
Jon Bon Jovi in the house
It's not every day that a rock god walks the hallways in the bowels of a stadium at a tennis tournament. But that's exactly what happened last week, when noted tennis lover Jon Bon Jovi spent some time at Hard Rock Stadium during a prolonged rain delay. He spent time with some of the players, and shared sweet moments with Mboko and Swiatek.