Agence France-Presse
Miami, March 25: World No. 1 Serena Williams was forced to regroup but launched her bid for a ninth Miami Open crown by defeating US compatriot Christina McHale 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 here Thursday.
Three-time defending champion Serena had the match on her racquet before having to withstand a fightback from her 23-year-old rival, taking two hours and seven minutes to reach the third round.
“She just started playing better, the kind of tennis she’s never played before,” Serena said after the game. “I made a few mistakes and then I had to pull myself back together.”
Serena will next face Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan, who ousted Australian Daria Gavrilova 7-5, 6-3. Serena fired 13 aces and 36 winners with 43 unforced errors while McHale responded with seven aces and 26 winners against 31 unforced errors.
Meanwhile in other matches, two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova reached the third round with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over 83rd-ranked American Irina Falconi.
Kvitova next faces Russian 30th seed Ekaterina Makarova, who ousted Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
British wildcard Heather Watson ousted US 20th seed Sloane Stephens 6-3, 6-0. She faces Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer in the third round, who caused the biggest upset of the day stunning 11th seed Lucie Safarova 6-2, 6-3.
In the men’s segment Uzbek Denis Istomin rallied to beat Croatia’s Borna Coric 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 to book a Saturday match-up with British second seed Andy Murray, who won their only two matches back in 2013.
Spanish fifth seed Rafael Nadal will open Saturday against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who rallied past Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
However, the most keenly-watched match will be the one between Roger Federer who is returning from a knee injury and Argentine Juan Martin del Potro.
