After beating Victoria Azarenka in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open, Sloane Stephens repeated the feat in the Miami semifinals, ending the Belarusian’s 11-0 winning streak at the tournament. Azarenka won the first two games of the second set, but Stephens turned the tie around by taking 10 straight games to move into the final with a 3-6 6-2 6-1 victory. Towards the end of the match, the heat and her hip flexor visibly troubled Azarenka, as the two-time Australian Open champion couldn’t bend her legs the right way and couldn’t move properly.
In the second semifinal, the heavy-hitting of French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, about to rise to a career-high ranking of No.4, proved too strong for qualifier Danielle Collins, who had already spent almost 12 hours on the court during her seven match wins which included triumphs over Venus Williams, Coco Vandeweghe and Monica Puig.
MORE MIAMI OPEN 2018 PHOTOS:
- Wednesday: Qualifier Collins shocks Venus, Ostapenko beats Svitolina in the quarterfinals
- Tuesday: Stephens storms past Kerber, Azarenka stuns Pliskova in the first set of quarterfinals
- Monday: Quarterfinal field shapes up
- Sunday: Third round wraps up, Venus saves match points to set up clash with Konta
- Saturday: Third-round action, No.1 Halep eliminated by Radwanska
- Friday: Second round wraps up, Puig upsets Wozniacki
- Thursday: Second-round action, Halep survives Dodin
- Wednesday: Naomi Osaka beats idol Serena Williams in the first round
- Tuesday: First round kicks off, Anisimova keeps shining
Very close match, but congrats to the currently more consistent Sloane Stephens in winning the 2018 Miami Open final (no more laziness, please) and her dynamic coach. I love me some Jelena O., but I just felt so on the fence on this one and had that “may the best girl win” mentality. If Sloane remains consistent, she can easily move up to #1 and win more grand slams. That forehand is straight fire! Serena Williams, hurry up and get back healthy, GOAT. I need you back on the courts to bring consistent wins, enthusiasm, fire, and excitement. Your baby girl is so adorable and cute!