Miami Open Masters 2019: Early Scores and Results from Saturday
March 23, 2019
Upsets were in high supply during Saturday's early 2019 Miami Open Masters matches, as Naomi Osaka, Stanislas Wawrinka and Karen Khachanov all bowed out of the tournament.
The top-seeded Osaka was eliminated by giant-killer Hsieh Su-wei, who bagged wins over Karolina Pliskova, Angelique Kerber and Anastasija Sevastova earlier this year.
Injury ruined Wawrinka's bid for a deep run in a loss to Filip Krajinovic, and Jordan Thompson easily beat Khachanov.
Here's a look at select result from Saturday's early action. For full results, visit Tennis.com.
Men's Draw
Filip Krajinovic bt. (30) Stan Wawrinka: 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (5)
Jordan Thompson bt. (10) Karen Khachanov: 6-2, 6-3
(Q) Andrey Rublev bt. (9) Marin Cilic: 6-4, 6-4
(18) David Goffin bt. Pablo Andujar: 6-4, 6-1
Women's Draw
(27) Hsieh Su-wei bt. (1) Naomi Osaka: 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3
(3) Petra Kvitova bt. (26) Donna Vekic: 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
(19) Caroline Garcia bt. (15) Julia Gorges: 6-0, 7-5
The biggest shock of the early action was Osaka's exit, although tennis writer Ben Rothenberg noted it shouldn't have come as a major surprise:
Hsieh more than lived up to her reputation for resilience, as she went down a break in each of the last two sets before she completed comebacks to secure the win.
The 33-year-old is more of a doubles specialist but is on the best run of her career in singles, including a great showing in Dubai last month. Her giant-killing reputation took off there as she made it all the way to the semi-finals before a tough loss against Kvitova.
She's picking up steam yet again in Miami—something that should worry the other top players.
Wawrinka's form cratered after a solid first set in his loss to Krajinovic, and the 33-year-old joined Osaka on his way out of the tournament.
As shared by Live Tennis, injury issues appeared to play a big part:
Both players struggled in the rallies, with many unforced errors plaguing their games. Wawrinka had a 5-2 advantage in the final tiebreak but couldn't hold on, and a wild forehand was a fitting end to the contest.
Khachanov's form was as bad, and he had the poor fortune of running into an unleashed Thompson:
The 24-year-old had a great 2018 with eight Challenger finals and is finding his feet against stiffer competition. He'll be one to keep an eye on the rest of the year.