MIAMI – Saturday`s afternoon match at the Miami Open featured a breakthrough performance from a rising American star and a confident advancement for one of the tour`s most consistent players.
Ashlyn Krueger advanced to the Round of 16 with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Leylah Fernandez. She will play the winner of the match between No. 9 seed Zheng Qinwen and qualifier Taylor Townsend.
The 20-year-old American matched her best result in a WTA 1000 tournament, previously achieved in Toronto last year. Krueger also recorded her seventh Top 30 victory of the year, surpassing her total from the entire previous season. Only Madison Keys, Mirra Andreeva, and Iga Swiatek have more such wins this year.
Krueger`s powerful strokes were evident again in the match against Fernandez. Her serve remained unbroken, and with 69 winners, she is only surpassed by McCartney Kessler (84) and Hailey Baptiste (78) in this statistic.
Rupert Caldwell