MIAMI GARDENS: World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and third-seeded Coco Gauff eased through their second round matches at the Miami Open on Thursday but seventh seed Elena Rybakina crashed out to American Ashlyn Krueger.

Sabalenka beat Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova 6-3 6-0 in a contest which lasted just 58 minutes while Gauff made even shorter work of her match, beating 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 6-0 6-0 in just 47 minutes.

For Sabalenka, who was beaten in the Indian Wells final by Russian 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva on Sunday, it was a comfortable start to her bid in South Florida.

“I’m super happy to get this win. A bit tricky with the conditions, and I didn’t have much time to adjust, so just happy with the performance today,” said the Belarussian, who said the contrast with conditions in California was striking.

“I feel like it’s a bit slower here, probably because of the balls, everything, it’s much heavier on the body.

“Then it was windy. It was a bit like different stadium. It’s just like everything new, and I had few days to adjust. That was a bit tricky, but I think I handled pretty well. So happy to get through,” she added.

Gauff, who has made a slow start to the season, said it had simply been a case of everything falling into place for her from the outset.

“I was definitely playing well today, and maybe she wasn’t playing her peak great tennis. I don’t think anyone who is playing their best tennis will have that scoreline today, so I’m not going to sit here and say she played her best tennis,” she said.

Gauff, who suffered a surprise exit to Belinda Bencic at Indian Wells last week, said she wasn’t trying to prove any point about her form.

“I know where I personally stand in my game. Yes, it’s not been up to my standards, but at the same time, you know, we are just March and our season ends in November. There is a lot of time to improve.

“Today I wasn’t going in with that in my mind. It just happened to be a great day for me,” she said.

Krueger, the 20-year-old Texan, claimed her first win over a top-10 opponent beating 2023 Miami Open finalist Rybakina 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in 1 hour and 50 minutes.

The American, ranked 40th in the world, will face Canadian Leylah Fernandez in the next round.

Defending champion Danielle Collins survived some late nerves to get past Romanian Sorana Cirstea 6-4 7-6 (7/3) and book her place in the round of 32.

Naomi Osaka, the 2022 Miami finalist, defeated 24th seed Liudmila Samsonova 6-2 6-4 to earn a meetup with American wildcard Halley Baptiste.

Baptiste enjoyed an upset 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 win over 12th seeded Russian Daria Kasatkina.

In the men’s draw, exciting 18-year-old Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca enjoyed plenty of support from compatriots in the crowd in a 6-7 (1/7) 6-3, 6-4 win over Learner Tien.

With the Brazilian flags waving and football-style chanting, Fonseca’s big hitting proved too much for the 19-year-old Californian.

“I knew it was going to be a difficult match. I knew Learner was going to fight until the end, he’s a great fighter. He knows how to play, he’s very smart,” said Fonseca.

“So I needed to go until the end and I just went to it hard and the Brazilian crowd was with me today,” Fonseca said.

In an all-American clash, Reilly Opelka beat Christopher Eubanks 6-3 7-6 (7/4) to improve to 4-0 in their head-to-head record.

The tall Opelka won all 26 of his first-serve points in the second set and wrapped up the 85-minute win with an ace.

MIAMI: A tennis union co-founded by Novak Djokovic on Tuesday announced a series of legal actions aimed at the sport’s governing bodies, alleging “anti-competitive restraints and abusive practices.”
The Professional Tennis Players’ Association (PTPA) said it was suing both tour organizers, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
The International Tennis Federation (ITF), and International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) were also named as defendants in a series of actions in the United States, United Kingdom and the European Union.
Both the ATP and WTA responded by vowing to defend themselves against the claims with the men’s tour saying the PTPA has “consistently chosen division and distraction through misinformation over progress.”
The PTPA was set up by Djokovic and Canadian Vasek Pospisil in 2020. Some 20 players were named as part of at least one of the actions.
“The lawsuits expose systemic abuse, anti-competitive practices, and a blatant disregard for player welfare that have persisted for decades,” said the PTPA statement.
“The ATP, WTA, ITF, and ITIA operate as a cartel by implementing a number of draconian, interlocking anti-competitive restraints and abusive practices.”
“Tennis is broken,” said Ahmad Nassar, Executive Director of the PTPA.
“Behind the glamorous veneer that the defendants promote, players are trapped in an unfair system that exploits their talent, suppresses their earnings, and jeopardizes their health and safety.”
The statement listed alleged abuses they are targeting.
It said the defendants “colluded,” “fixing prize money and suppressing player earnings” forcing “an unsustainable schedule” and exploiting players financially.
The bodies show a “disregard for players” by making them “compete in 100-degree (Fahrenheit) heat, endure matches that ended at 3 am, and play with different and injury-inducing tennis balls.”
The PTPA also cited image right ownership, sponsorship restrictions and the “draconian system of ranking points.”
The statement also complained that tennis violates player “privacy rights.”
“Players are subjected to invasive searches of personal devices, random middle-of-the-night drug tests, and interrogations without legal representation,” it said.
The ATP said that it was continuing to make change, with player input and hit back at the union.
“While the ATP has remained focused on delivering reforms that benefit players at multiple levels, the PTPA has consistently chosen division and distraction through misinformation over progress,” the statement read.
“Five years on from its inception in 2020, the PTPA has struggled to establish a meaningful role in tennis, making its decision to pursue legal action at this juncture unsurprising.
“We strongly reject the premise of the PTPA’s claims, believe the case to be entirely without merit, and will vigorously defend our position. The ATP remains committed to working in the best interests of the game — toward continued growth, financial stability, and the best possible future for our players, tournaments, and fans,” the tour concluded.
The WTA also defended their approach to the game and said that PTPA’s action “is both regrettable and misguided, and we will defend our position vigorously in due course.”
In addition to Djokovic and Pospisil, the seven-member PTPA executive council also includes players, Hubert Hurkacz, Ons Jabeur, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Taylor Townsend and Zheng Saisai.
Australian Nick Kyrgios, France’s Varvara Gracheva and American Reilly Opelka have joined the PTPA’s case in the United States, while Frenchman Corentin Moutet and Japan’s Taro Daniel have joined the case in the United Kingdom.