British number one Katie Boulter missed out on a place in the Miami Open quarter-finals after she lost in straight sets to Victoria Azarenka.
Boulter had broken new ground with victory over Beatriz Haddad Maia in the previous round to reach the last-16 of the tournament for the first time, but saw her journey in Florida end after she was ground down by her veteran opponent.
A marathon first set went the way of former world number one Azarenka and it proved pivotal with Boulter unable to keep up her level in set two before she lost 7-5 6-1.
Two-time Australian Open champion Azarenka looked on course to cruise past the recent San Diego Open winner when she established a 5-2 lead in the first set.
World number 30 Boulter had already faced a string of break points by this point, but had to save a number of set points in what proved a decisive eighth game.
It spurred Boulter on and she broke back against the Belarusian before she held again to level at 5-5.
However, with a tie-breaker on the horizon, Azarenka showed her experience to claim another break against the Briton before she closed out a 71-minute first set.
The momentum had firmly swung now and Azarenka went on to break Boulter at the start of the second.
Another break followed before another poor service return by Boulter sealed Azarenka’s passage into the last eight where she will face Yulia Putintseva.
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World number three Coco Gauff had to dig deep to beat Caroline Garcia in three sets.
Garcia, the 23rd seed, won the first set and restricted Gauff to no break points.
It was a different story afterwards though with Gauff winning 12 of the next 15 games to progress 3-6 6-1 6-2.
Former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina joined Gauff at the quarter-final stage with a 6-3 7-5 victory over Madison Keys.
Swiatek soars into Madrid Open last 16 after dropping just two games against Cirstea
Iga Swiatek stormed through to the Madrid Open last 16 following a dominant straight-sets victory over Sorana Cirstea.
The world number one dropped just two games as she inflicted a comprehensive 6-1 6-1 rout on her Romanian opponent in the Spanish capital.
Swiatek, who was runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka in last year's event, will play Sara Sorribes Tormo in the round of 16 after the Spaniard defeated two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka.
The Pole is now 26-4 for the season, in which she has already triumphed at the Qatar Open and Indian Wells Open, as she eyes the ninth WTA 1000 singles title of her career.
Data debrief
Swiatek is through to her sixth round of 16 from seven main-draw appearances in WTA 1000 events on clay (85.7 per cent) - the highest percentage rate among players with at least five such appearances since the format's introduction in 2009.
The three-time French Open champion also boasts the best WTA match win rate of any player since 2000 on clay (87 per cent). Overall, only Chris Evert (94.5 per cent), Margaret Court (89.5 per cent) and Steffi Graf (89.2 per cent) boast a higher percentage in the Open Era.
Alcaraz begins Madrid Open campaign with emphatic win
Carlos Alcaraz continued his fine record at the Madrid Open with an emphatic 6-2 6-1 victory over Alexander Shevchenko on Friday.
The two-time defending champion made it 12 straight wins at his home tournament to ensure he will face Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild in the last 32.
Alcaraz was playing his first match on the ATP Tour since March 28 after being unable to compete in the Monte-Carlo Masters and Barcelona Open due to an arm injury.
But he was still able to make a fine start to his clay-court season, breaking serve in the first game and racing to victory in only one hour and eight minutes.
Data Debrief
Sometimes the scoreline can be harsh on a beaten player, but on this occasion Alcaraz was clearly dominant, breaking the Kazakh seven times in the match and forcing 11 break-point opportunities while conceding only three for his opponent.
That allowed the Spaniard to claim a dominant victory despite being broken once in each set. He will now turn his attention to a clash with Seyboth Wild, who battled past Lorenzo Musetti with a 6-4 6-4 win.
Reigning champion Sabalenka pushed by Linette at Madrid Open
Aryna Sabalenka got her Madrid Open campaign started with a 6-4 3-6 6-3 win over Magda Linette on Friday.
Sabalenka could not quite hit her peak form against Linette, but the world number two nevertheless got the job done after going the distance.
The Belarusian is hunting a record-equalling third title in Madrid, where she is the reigning champion, though she has not won back-to-back matches at a tournament since winning the Australian Open.
"It's not about being confident," Sabalenka said. "It's about how much you're ready to do to get it. It's about the hard work and to be ready, be ready for the big fights. I feel like confidence is not going to help you in those big matches. It's about staying there and fighting for it."
Data Debrief
Sabalenka (70 per cent, 56-24) is now one of five active players since 2020 to hold a winning percentage of 70 per cent or higher at WTA-1000 events.
Iga Swiatek, Simona Halep, Elena Rybakina and Jessica Pegula are the other players to feature on that list.
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