Miami Open Masters 2018 Results: Sloane Stephens, Angelique Kerber Among Winners

The Miami Open Masters 2018 heated up Thursday as the tournament reached the second round.

Serena Williams may have been knocked out in the opening round, but there was still plenty of star power on display in Round 2. Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber and Sloane Stephens were among those whose tournament play began Thursday.

There's still plenty of tennis to be played before a champion is crowned, but the Miami Open Masters 2018 is off to an intriguing start.

Women's Draw

Scores

No. 5 Karolina Pliskova def. Ekaterina Makarova (7-5, 7-5)

No. 30 Agnieszka Radwanska def. Alison Van Uytvanck (6-3, 7-6 [7-4])

No. 20 Anastasija Sevastova def. Alize Cornet (7-5, 6-4)

Christina McHale def. No. 25 Barbora Strycova (6-1, 6-4)

No. 10 Angelique Kerber def. Johanna Larsson (6-2, 6-2)

No. 23 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Aliaksandra Sasnovich (6-2, 3-6, 6-2)

Monica Niculescu def. No. 17 Magdalena Rybarikova (6-3, 6-3)

No. 1 Simona Halep def. Oceane Dodin (3-6, 6-3, 7-5)

Carina Witthoeft def. No. 12 Julia Goerges (7-6 [7-2]. 4-6, 6-4)

Yafan Wang def. No. 27 Carla Suarez Navarro (7-5, 6-3)

Alison Riske def. No. 7 Caroline Garcia (6-3, 6-1)

No. 13 Sloane Stephens def. Ajla Tomljanovic (6-1, 6-3)

Zarina Diyas def. No. 18 Svetlana Kuznetsova (6-1, 6-3)

Victoria Azarenka def. No. 14 Madison Keys (7-6 [7-5], 2-0; ret.)

Full results and updated draw available courtesy of WTATennis.com.

Recap

It wasn't the easiest day for the top seeds.

Caroline Garcia, Julia Goerges, Magdalena Rybarikova, Barbora Strycova and Svetlana Kuznetsova were all upset in the second round Thursday. And perhaps just as surprisingly, all but Goerges went down in straight sets.

It briefly looked like Simona Halep may join that group of early exits after she dropped her first set against Oceane Dodin 3-6, but she managed to fight back, even with a visit from the trainer in the second set. 

Ultimately, it was a hard-fought three-set victory by the top-ranked player:

Meanwhile, Stephens cruised to victory with an impressive showing against Ajla Tomljanovic:

Not even a sniff of an upset there.

The match between No. 14 Madison Keys and Victoria Azarenka was shaping up to be a good one, needing a tiebreaker to decide the first set:

However, an injury forced Keys to bow out early:

Per ESPN's Bonnie D. Ford, it was a hamstring injury that caused the 23-year-old American to end the match in the second set.

Afterwards, Azarenka wished her opponent a speedy recovery:

Survive and advance is the name of the game. It's easier said than done, as some found out on this day.         

Men's Draw

Scores

Evgeny Donskoy def. Aljaz Bedene (7-5, 6-4)

Nikoloz Basilashvili def. Thomas Fabbiano (1-6, 6-2, 7-5)

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Tennys Sandgren (7-6 [7-3], 7-6 [8-6])

Leonardo Mayer def. Donald Young (3-6, 6-4, 6-2)

Yoshihito Nishioka def. Alex de Minaur (6-2, 6-4)

Nicola Kuhn def. Darian King (7-6 [7-4], 6-4)

Denis Shapovalov def. Viktor Troicki (6-3, 6-7 [4-7], 7-6 [8-6])

Full results and updated draw available courtesy of ATPWorldTour.com.

Recap

While the women's draw featured big names across the board Thursday, the same cannot be said in the men's singles draw. The top players in the world will have to wait another day to get in on the action.

Less than a month shy of his 19th birthday, Denis Shapovalov earned himself a hard-fought victory over Viktor Troicki:

Even in the loss, Troicki managed to pull off quite the highlight:

Not only did it require three sets, but it required tiebreakers in each of the final two sets.

This match also featured a bizarre moment:

For Yoshihito Nishioka, it was smooth sailing on his way to a straight-set victory over Alex de Minaur, but the competition is about to get tougher in a hurry. No. 10 Tomas Berdych awaits him in the second round. 

Thursday's action set the stage for what should be an entertaining second round. Novak Djokovic, Marin Cilic and Juan Martin Del Potro are among the stars who will hit the court Friday.

Notable Friday Matches

Women's Draw

No. 4 Elina Svitolina vs. Naomi Osaka (11 a.m. ET)

No. 8 Venus Williams vs. Natalia Vikhlyantseva (not before 5 p.m. ET)

No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki vs. Monica Puig (not before 9:30 p.m. ET)

No. 9 Petra Kvitova vs. Aryna Sabalenka

No. 16 CoCo Vandeweghe vs. Danielle Collins

Men's Draw

No. 2 Marin Cilic vs. Pierre-Hugues Herbert (not before 1 p.m. ET)

No. 9 Novak Djokovic vs. Benoit Paire (after Cilic-Herbert)

No. 5 Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Robin Haase (8 p.m. ET)

No. 14 John Isner vs. Jiri Vesely

No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov vs. Maximilian Marterer (not before 5 p.m. ET)

Full schedule can be seen at the ATP World Tour official website.