Miami Open Masters 2018: Early Scores and Results from Monday

U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens booked her spot in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Miami Open Masters as she beat third seed Garbine Muguruza on Monday. 

Angelique Kerber survived a scare against world No. 125 Yafan Wang as she came through their fourth-round clash with a 6-7 (1), 7-6 (5), 6-3 victory.

Meanwhile, in the men's draw, veteran Spaniard Fernando Verdasco downed Thanasi Kokkinakis, who had beaten Roger Federer in the previous round. 

Here are the early scores from Monday's action in Florida:

Men's Draw

(31) Fernando Verdasco bt. Thanasi Kokkinakis: 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4) 

(16) Pablo Carreno Busta bt. Steve Johnson: 6-4, 6-4

Women's Draw

(5) Karolina Pliskova bt. Zarina Diyas: 6-2, 2-1 ret. 

(13) Sloane Stephens bt. (3) Garbine Muguruza: 6-3, 6-4 

(10) Angelique Kerber bt. Yafan Wang: 6-7 (1), 7-6 (5), 6-3

Recap 

Stephens has not enjoyed the best run of form since she claimed her first Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows back in September 2017.

However, she provided evidence she could be returning to her best with a clinical 88-minute defeat of Muguruza on Monday, per the New York Times' Ben Rothenberg: 

The American No. 13 seed looked sharp from the off against the Wimbledon champion as she immediately took a 2-0 lead.

With Spaniard Muguruza not quite at her best, Stephens took full advantage in front of a home crowd to seal victory in confident fashion.

She will now face Kerber, whose performance against Wang was far from confident.

The German did show impressive resilience, though, to level in a tiebreak after a topsy-turvy second set and then used all her experience to see out the win in the third by taking a crucial single break.

Verdasco's victory over Australian Kokkinakis came, as Kerber's did, in just under three hours, and it was a bad-tempered affair. 

In the midst of a lengthy decider, the pair exchanged some fierce words during a break, with Rothenberg providing some footage (warning: bad language) from TennisTV:

In the end, Verdasco, 34, showed grit to come back from a set down and prevail in a third-set tiebreak. 

The 21-year-old Kokkinakis can reflect on a fine tournament given his victory over Federer in the second round, but he will likely rue some missed opportunities from Monday's clash.

Verdasco will now face his compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta in the last 16 following the 16th seed's 6-4, 6-4 victory over America's Steve Johnson.