Ashleigh Barty, Sabalenka progress at Miami Open

MIAMI: World number one Ashleigh Barty of Australia and seventh seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus each fended off match points before outlasting their tough opponents in second-round epics at the Miami Open.

Barty overcame qualifier Kristina Kucova of Slovakia 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 in two-and-a-half hours, while Barty was forced to save one match point while down 3-5 in the third set, in the midst of reeling off the final five games of the clash on Thursday, Xinhua news reports.

"Never give up, never ever give up. You're always in there with a chance," said Barty.

"Today was really hard work, and I enjoyed every single minute of it. There's nothing like coming through a test like that, and now I get another opportunity in a couple days time to play another tough match, and test myself again."

Sabalenka, meanwhile, staved off two match points in the decisive final-set tiebreak before quashing the challenge by qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 0-6, 3-6, 7-6 (9).

"Since a young age, my parents keep telling me, 'It doesn't matter what goes on in the court, you just have to fight, and if you will fight, you will get the wins'. That's what I did today," Sabalenka said.

Elsewhere, third seed Simona Halep from Romania and fifth seed Elina Svitolina from Ukraine both reached the next round after three-set battles. No 5 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine overcame an early deficit and a wrist injury to edge American Shelby Rogers 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. No 3 Simona Halep also rallied and beat Caroline Garcia 3-6, 6-4, 6-0.

Chinese number one Wang Qiang lost to Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-4.

In night play, No 31-seeded Coco Gauff lost the final five games and was beaten by Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia, 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Wild card Ana Konjuh of Croatia upset No 18-seeded Madison Keys in the second round, 6-4, 6-2. Konjuh's career has been slowed by four elbow surgeries, and in the past two days she has earned her first two wins in main-draw WTA play since 2018.

In men's first-round play, qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis won a top-tier ATP match for the first time in three years by beating another qualifier, Shintaro Mochizuki, 6-3, 6-3.

Kokkinakis is ranked No 243 and mounting a comeback from a shoulder injury. He beat Roger Federer as a qualifier in Miami three years ago, and returned to the tour last month after being sidelined more than a year. American qualifier Bjorn Fratangelo made it third time lucky in Miami, recording his first victory at the hard-court tournament after striking 11 aces past Fernando Verdasco of Spain in a 6-4, 6-4 victory over one hour and 31 minutes. He'll next play Italian No. 24 seed Lorenzo Sonego. Agencies

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