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Venus Williams crashed out of the Miami Open in the first round. Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas ousted the three-time former champion 6-2, 7-6 (10) in an hour and 28 minutes. Diyas quickly claimed the opening set as Williams struggled with her shot-making, hitting 16 unforced errors.
Although the pair exchanged a break of serve in the set, Diyas converted two more break points to firm her position in the match. In the second set, it was Williams who gained a 4-1 lead over her opponent, after breaking her in the fourth game.
But her errors soon pegged her back and allowed her opponent to level the score. A second break of Williams’ serve gave Diyas the chance to serve for the match in the 12th game but Williams broke back. The ensuing tie-break tottered between the two players, as Diyas was unable to make good of three match points and Williams squandered two set points.
Finally, at 10-all, a double fault off Williams gave Kazakh her fourth match point which she finally converted after Williams’ return found the net. In the second round, Diyas will play 11th seed Belinda Bencic.
Miami Open: Wildcards, Americans split results
Wildcards Robin Montgomery, Mayar Sherif and Katrina Scott all lost their first-round matches.
Magda Linette overcame a stiff fight by the 16-year-old Montgomery to post a 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 victory. Sorana Cirstea defeated the 16-year-old Scott 6-2, 6-2. Lastly, Nadia Podoroska defeated Sherif 6-3, 6-1. In the round-of-64, Linette will play either Alize Cornet or Svetlana Kuznetsova while Cirstea will play 22nd seed Anette Kontaveit.
Podoroska take on 30th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova. The only wildcard to advance to the second round on Tuesday was China’s Xinyu Wang. Wang defeated Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson 6-2, 6-2 and will play 12th seed Garbine Muguruza next.
Muguruza’s fellow Spaniard, Paula Badosa also moved into the second round after her opponent, Jil Teichmann retired mid-match in the first round. At the time of Teichmann’s retirement, she was leading Badosa 6-5 in the opening set.
In the second round, Badosa will play 27th seed Ons Jabeur. Shelby Rogers won the American derby against Madison Brengle 6-3, 6-3. Rogers will play fifth seed Elina Svitolina next. Rogers’ compatriots Lauren Davis and Christina McHale, however, lost in the first round.
Kaia Kanepi defeated Davis 6-3, 7-5 while Laura Siegemund beat McHale by the same margin of scores. Czech Republicans taking to the court on Tuesday at the Miami Open had mixed result. Arantxa Rus defeated Marie Bouzkova 6-3, 6-2.
Barbora Krejcikova, meanwhile, defeated Anna Blinkova 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. Blinkova’s fellow countrywoman, Anastasia Potapova, also lost in the first round. Ajla Tomljanovic defeated Potapova 7-5, 6-0.