Miami Open 2023: Elena Rybakina grinds past Paula Badosa to keep her Sunshine Double hopes alive, Anastasia Potapova upsets Coco Gauff

Rybakina, who also had to go the distance in her opening match against Anna Kalinskaya, struggled to find her rhythm on serve in the opening set but wrestled back momentum in the second.

After being broken four times in the first set, Rybakina held her serve in all but one game in the remainder of the contest and confidently closed out victory in two hours and 31 minutes.

Make that TEN wins in a row💥

Fending off a tough test from Badosa, [10] Rybakina prevails 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in Miami!#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/8QbzglwKwT

— wta (@WTA) March 26, 2023

“It didn’t start well in the first set but in the end I just found some energy,” Rybakina said. “I was trying to push more on the serve and started to move better on the court. It was a really tough battle.

“I was trying to focus on every point because the first set didn’t go my way. But it was just a few mistakes here and there. Overall, I played well. Paula was serving well. Just happy that I was able to manage in three sets.”

Miami Open 2023: Potapova moves past Gauff to enter the fourth round

Russian 27th seed Potapova produced some of her best tennis to see off world number six Gauff in a 6-7(8) 7-5 6-2 win and set up a meeting with China’s Zheng Qinwen.

Potapova mounted a stout defense to fend off 10 of 13 break points and grinned widely as she fired down an unreturnable serve to secure the win.

Up 5-2 in the first set, it looked as though it might be an easy day for Potapova. But Gauff turned the tables when she converted break point chances in the ninth and 11th games and closed the tiebreak with a lethal backhand.

Potapova regained her composure in the second set and pummeled her opponent with her mighty forehand as she broke serve in the penultimate game and dropped only one first-serve point as she won the final five games.