WTA

Sabalenka marches into Miami Open fourth round, Andreescu continues run with Kenin win

By Sports Desk March 26, 2023

Aryna Sabalenka needed just 68 minutes to dispatch Marie Bouzkova 6-1 6-2 in Sunday's third round of the Miami Open.

Sabalenka hit 26 winners in the victory and now has 250 at WTA 1000 level for the season, representing one of only two female players with more than 200 in 2023.

The world number two, who is the top seed in the tournament after Iga Swiatek's withdrawal, has now won 19 of her past 21 matches, with her only losses in that span to Elena Rybakina and Barbora Krejcikova.

She will get the chance to avenge that loss to Krejcikova next after the Czech Republic representative knocked out hometown star Madison Keys 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.

Former French Open winner Krejcikova registered her 10th WTA 1000 level win against Keys, becoming only the second player to achieve that this season.

Former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin fell 6-4 6-4 to Canada's Bianca Andreescu, who continued her strong run after previously knocking out seventh seed Maria Sakkari and 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu.

In a serve-dominated match, 2019 US Open champion Andreescu sent down seven aces, maintaining 70 per cent first serve percentage.

Ninth seed and former Olympic gold medallist Belinda Bencic was eliminated 7-6 (10-8) 6-3 by 18th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, who will take on Andreescu in the next round.

Marketa Vondrousova won her all-Czech matchup against 17th seed Karolina Pliskova, and their compatriot Petra Kvitova enjoyed a 6-4 7-6 (7-3) triumph over recent Monterrey Open champion Donna Vekic.

Romania's Sorana Cirstea made it seven wins from her past eight matches with a 7-5 6-1 result over Karolina Muchova, having knocked off fifth seed Caroline Garcia in the second round.

Varvara Gracheva ensured a strong day for the Russians with a 6-1 6-2 demolition of Magdalena Frech in a battle of two unseeded players.

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    Jamie Gittens scored twice as Borussia Dortmund opened their Champions League campaign with a 3-0 victory away at Club Brugge.

    Serhou Guirassy added a late penalty for last season's finalists, who netted three times in the final quarter of an hour at Jan Breydelstadion.

    Brugge carried the greater attacking threat for most of the contest, going closest to scoring when Hugo Vetlesen rattled the crossbar, but they were made to pay for their profligacy.

    Gittens entered the action as a 68th-minute substitute and broke the deadlock eight minutes later - albeit in fortuitous circumstances - with his shot taking two deflections before nestling in the top-left corner.

    The 20-year-old doubled his and Dortmund's tally with four minutes remaining, cutting inside before firing past Simon Mignolet in the Brugge goal.

    Guirassy added further gloss to the scoreline from the penalty spot deep into stoppage time, slotting home from 12 yards after he was fouled by Brandon Mechele.

    Data Debrief: Super sub Gittens stars in historic win

    Keeping Brugge at bay, Dortmund became the first team in Champions League history to play a single opponent five times without conceding a goal.

    Gittens got the ball rolling at the other end. At 20 years and 41 days old, he is the second-youngest player to score two or more goals as a substitute in a Champions League game, older than only Monaco's David Trezeguet, who was just 34 days younger when he struck against K. Lierse SK in October 1997.

    Guirassy completed the victory from the spot, meaning Dortmund have now converted each of their last six Champions League penalties, last failing from 12 yards against Barcelona in September 2019 through Marco Reus.

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    Jamie Gittens scored twice as Borussia Dortmund opened their Champions League campaign with a 3-0 victory away at Club Brugge.

    Serhou Guirassy added a late penalty for last season's finalists, who netted three times in the final quarter of an hour at Jan Breydelstadion.

    Brugge carried the greater attacking threat for most of the contest, going closest to scoring when Hugo Vetlesen rattled the crossbar, but they were made to pay for their profligacy.

    Gittens entered the action as a 68th-minute substitute and broke the deadlock eight minutes later—albeit in fortuitous circumstances—with his shot taking two deflections before nestling in the top-left corner.

    The 20-year-old doubled his and Dortmund's tally with four minutes remaining, cutting inside before firing past Simon Mignolet in the Brugge goal.

    Guirassy added further gloss to the scoreline from the penalty spot deep into stoppage time, slotting home from 12 yards after he was fouled by Brandon Mechele.

    Data Debrief: Super sub Gittens stars in historic win

    Keeping Brugge at bay, Dortmund became the first team in Champions League history to play a single opponent five times without conceding a goal.

    Gittens got the ball rolling at the other end. At 20 years and 41 days old, he is the second-youngest player to score two or more goals as a substitute in a Champions League game, older than only Monaco's David Trezeguet, who was just 34 days younger when he struck against K. Lierse SK in October 1997.

    Guirassy completed the victory from the spot, meaning Dortmund have now converted each of their last six Champions League penalties, last failing from 12 yards against Barcelona in September 2019 through Marco Reus.

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    Paris Saint-Germain sneaked to a 1-0 home victory over Champions League debutants Girona on Wednesday after Paulo Gazzaniga's costly late blunder.

    Nuno Mendes' harmless low delivery across goal slipped through visiting goalkeeper Gazzaniga's grasp in the 90th minute to hand the hosts an opening victory at Parc des Princes.

    Girona's defence effectively neutralised PSG's attack in the first half, causing mounting frustration for the hosts before Michel's side began to waste time, drawing boos from the Parc des Princes crowd.

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    Data Debrief: PSG's fortress continues unbroken

    Though winning in fortuitous circumstances, PSG have now only lost one of their 37 home games in the group stage of the Champions League (W29 D7) since the start of the 2012-13 campaign.

    Parc des Princes remains the Ligue 1 champions' fortress, with only one of the last 29 teams (D8 L20) travelling away to PSG for the first time in the competition winning (Manchester United, 3-1 in March 2019).

    Luis Enrique has Gazzaniga to thank, however, with Girona's own goal the first in the 90th minute of a Champions League game since November 2022, since Porto's Ivan Marcano against Atletico Madrid.

    It was the first ever 90th-minute own goal in the competition that proved to be the winner but, concerningly, PSG have now attempted 71 shot attempts since one of their own players scored in Europe.

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