Venus smiles her way into quarter; Cibulkova and Muguruza bow out

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Venus smiles her way into quarter; Cibulkova and Muguruza bow out
Venus Williams, of the United States, hits a return to Patricia Maria Tig, of Romania, during the Miami Open tennis tournament on Sunday.

Miami - Williams will next play Kerber after the top seed cruised by Japanese qualifier Ozaki

By AFP

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Published: Tue 28 Mar 2017, 6:43 PM

Last updated: Tue 28 Mar 2017, 8:47 PM

Venus Williams had every reason to smile on Monday as she defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3 7-6(4) to advance to the quarterfinals at the Miami Open.
Williams, who will next play Angelique Kerber after the top seed cruised by Japanese qualifier Risa Ozaki 6-2 6-2, is a three-time champion in Miami and first played in the tournament as a 16-year-old.
World number one Angelique Kerber reached the quarterfinals of the Miami Open after swiftly dealing with Japanese qualifier Risa Ozaki in a 6-2, 6-2 victory.
But fourth-seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia crashed out to the Czech Republic's Lucie Safarova and ailing French Open champion Garbine Muguruza also bowed out in the fourth round.
Kerber took control early, breaking twice to establish a 4-1 lead and she was in firm control from then on.
The German said that while her opponent may only have been ranked 87th she had studied Ozaki's game closely before the contest.
"She came through the qualies, she beat good players, so I was ready for it," Kerber said.
"I talked with my team and I knew that she's moving good and bringing a lot of balls back. I was trying to play my game and be aggressive."
Second seed Karolina Pliskova also reached the quarterfinals as she beat 15th-seeded Czech compatriot Barbora Strycova 6-1 6-4.
Pliskova cruised through the first set in 22 minutes and looked ready to wrap up a quick victory when she went ahead 5-2 in the second but Strycova found life late in the match breaking Pliskova then holding at love. Pliskova recovered to take the final game.
French Open champion Garbine Muguruza retired from her match with Caroline Wozniacki after dropping the first set. The sixth seed took a medical timeout after dropping the first set 7-6(1) to Wozniacki and decided she was unable to continue.
â?oI started normal, and then like at 3-3 or something like this I started to feel headache, pain in my stomach," Muguruza said. "And then it kind of went more and more during the match.
"When I was getting to the 5-4, something like this, I started to feel a little bit dizzy. I think it was the heat? The heat affected me suddenly like that.â??
Wozniacki has now advanced to her sixth quarter-final in seven 2017 events.
In other women's matches, third seed Simona Halep overcame Australian Samantha Stosur 4-6 7-5 6-2, and former Czech world number five Lucie Safarova beat Slovakian fourth seed Dominika Cibulkova 7-6(5) 6-1 to reach the last eight.
For unseeded Safarova, who is on the comeback trail from a bacterial infection that hampered her for parts of the past two seasons, the win marked her first top-10 victory since 2015.
Safarova, ranked 36th in the world, moved into the quarter-finals with a 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 victory over Cibulkova, which was her first triumph against a top 10 opponent since 2015.
Illness has disrupted Safarova's campaigns over the past two years but the seven-time WTA title winner, looks to be on the right track.
"I feel healthy now - thank God and I'll keep trying to push my limits more and more," she said.
The 30-year-old Czech will face Dane Caroline Wozniacki who advanced when Spain's Muguruza retired feeling ill after being edged in a first set tie-break.
In an all-Czech clash, number two seed Karolina Pliskova enjoyed a 6-1, 6-4 win over Barbora Strycova.
Pliskova will come up against Croatian Mirjana Lucic-Baroni whose impressive late career revival continued with the 35-year-old beating American Bethanie Mattek-Sands 7-5, 6-4.
Lucic-Baroni said she was benefitting from a more thoughtful approach to preparation.
"I've always worked hard, but we're working much smarter now," she said.
"We're not murdering me six hours a day anymore, but we're doing good things."
While she has never appeared in the Miami quarters before, this will be her third quarter-final appearance in her last four WTA events and she goes into the match knowing she beat Piliskova in the last eight in the Australian Open.  

Results

Women
Fourth Round: Angelique Kerber (GER x1) bt Risa Ozaki (JPN) 6-2, 6-2; Venus Williams (USA x11) bt Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS x7) 6-3, 7-6 (7/4);
Simona Halep (ROM x3) bt Samantha Stosur (AUS x14) 4-6, 7-5, 6-2; Johanna Konta (GBR x10) bt Lara Arruabarrena (ESP) 7-5, 6-1; Caroline Wozniacki (DEN x12) bt Garbine Muguruza (ESP x6) 7-6 (7/1), retired, illness; Lucie Safarova (CZE) bt Dominika Cibulkova (SVK x4) 7-6 (7/5), 6-1; Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO x26) bt Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) 7-5, 6-4; Karolina Pliskova (CZE x2) bt Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE x15) 6-1, 6-4.


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