Miami Open Masters 2018 Results: Thursday Scores, Bracket and Schedule

The 2018 Miami Open entered the homestretch Thursday in Key Biscayne, Florida. By the end of the night, the women's singles final and the semifinals of the men's singles draw would be set.

After what has been a rough start to 2018, Sloane Stephens appears to be hitting her stride. The 13th-seeded American was one victory away from her first finals appearance this year when she took the court against Victoria Azarenka.

With John Isner and Juan Martin del Potro already in the semifinals, Pablo Carreno Busta and Kevin Anderson faced off in one of Thursday's two quarterfinal clashes, with Alexander Zverev taking on Borna Coric in the other.

Below are the results from Thursday and a brief recap of the action. The men's singles and women's singles draws are available on the Miami Open's official website.

Thursday Results

Men's Singles

No. 4 Alexander Zverev def. No. 29 Borna Coric: 6-4, 6-4

No. 16 Pablo Carreno Busta def. No. 6 Kevin Anderson: 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (6)

Women's Singles

No. 13 Sloane Stephens def. Victoria Azarenka: 3-6, 6-2, 6-1

No. 6 Jelena Ostapenko def. Danielle Collins: 7-6 (1), 6-3

Men's Recap

Anderson bowed out in the quarterfinals for the second tournament in a row. At the BNP Paribas Open, the 6'8" South African lost a three-setter to Coric. On Thursday, he fell in another three-setter, this time to Carreno Busta.

Carreno Busta avenged his fourth-round defeat to Anderson at the BNP Paribas Open last week. This is also the first time in five tries Carreno Busta has defeated Anderson.

Coincidentally, the third-set tiebreaker score was a mirror image of their last two meetings. Anderson sealed the third set 8-6 in Indian Wells, California, and Carreno Busta did the same in Key Biscayne.

"It was an amazing match, no?" Carreno Busta said after Thursday's win, per the ATP World Tour's official site. "I lost to him, 7-6 in the third set [at Indian Wells]. And today, well, at the beginning of the match I started playing really good, returning good, serving good, being very aggressive."

Anderson was his typical self on serve, collecting 14 aces and winning 70 percent of his first-service points. However, he left the door open for Carreno Busta by allowing 10 break-point opportunities, three of which Carreno Busta converted.

The New York Times' Ben Rothenberg noted how the 26-year-old Spaniard seems to relish playing in marquee U.S. events:

Zverev will be standing in Carreno Busta's way as he looks for his first singles title of 2018. The 20-year-old German made quick work of Coric, winning 6-4, 6-4.

A point in the second set encapsulated the match's general flow. Coric seemed to put Zverev on the defensive with a drop shot tailing away to his forehand. Zverev got to the ball and quickly recovered enough to put away an overhead on Coric's attempted lob. Tennis TV shared a replay of the point:

Coric didn't have an answer for Zverev's serve, either. Zverev had eight aces and won 83 percent of his first-service points. He only allowed Coric to have two break-point opportunities, both of which he saved.

Women's Recap

The United States went 1-1 in the women's semifinals. Stephens defeated Azarenka in three sets, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, but unseeded Danielle Collins lost in straight sets to Jelena Ostapenko.

Stephens and Azarenka met in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open, where Stephens cruised in the first set before she encountered more trouble in the second. The 2017 U.S. Open champion still advanced to the second round, where she exited at the hands of Daria Kasatkina.

"I knew I was going to have to fight regardless of what happened last week," Stephens said after her match, per Alex Macpherson of the WTA's official site. "It's someone I have lost three times before prior to obviously last week. So I had to fight, and I had to play some of my best tennis today."

Stephens executed an impressive turnaround after dropping the first set to Azarenka, which is something she hasn't done a lot since winning her first major tournament last summer.

The 25-year-old showed a lot of composure by not trying to do too much to get back into the match. Stephens was patient from the baseline and waited for her opportunities to strike. 

That strategy wore Azarenka down as the match went on, and the two-time Australian Open winner said after the match she was battling a hip flexor issue, which hindered her movement, according to Macpherson.

Stephens will put her perfect 5-0 record in WTA finals on the line against Ostapenko.

Ostapenko ended Collins' improbable run in Key Biscayne after the No. 93 player in the world upset No. 16 CoCo Vandeweghe in the second round and then No. 8 Venus Williams in the quarterfinals.

Had Collins secured the first-set tiebreaker against Ostapenko, she may have been able to pull off another upset. But she may have run out of gas after going down a set.

Collins needed three sets in each of the second, third and fourth rounds, and while she swept Williams aside in straight sets, she didn't have a day off between the quarterfinals and semifinals.

According to the WTA's official site, Collins actually had four fewer unforced errors (24) than Ostapenko (28), but Ostapenko had a significant edge in winners (33) over Collins (12). Especially in the second set, she dictated the pace and overpowered Collins.

Friday Schedule

No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro vs. No. 14 John Isner (1 p.m. ET)

Elise Mertens/Demi Schuurs vs. No. 6 Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova

No. 16 Pablo Carreno Busta vs. No. 4 Alexander Zverev (7 p.m. ET)

No. 1 Ekaterina Makarova/Kristina Mladenovic vs. Ashleigh Barty/CoCo Vandeweghe