Garcia upsets Gauff to reach Miami Open quarters
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Garcia beat Coco Gauff to advance to the quarter-finals of the Miami Open
MIAMI (AFP) – France's Caroline Garcia upset world number three Coco Gauff beating the American 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 on Monday to advance to the quarter-finals of the Miami Open.
Garcia, who had beaten four-times Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka in straight sets on Sunday, continued her inspired form as she defeated Gauff on her home court in one hour 43 minutes.
After a thrilling encounter, which ebbed and flowed, Garcia, ranked 27th in the world, emerged to face a last-eight meeting with the winner of Monday's match between Romanian Sorana Cirstea and American Danielle Collins.
The victory was Garcia's first against a top ten opponent since late 2022 but her third career win (3-2) against Gauff, who she also beat in the 2022 US Open.
"It was definitely a great match and great win for me. And the last couple of months have not been easy. And definitely today, following the match of yesterday, it means a lot. And it was some great tennis," she said.
Garcia said her strategy of playing aggressive tennis to put pressure on the American had paid off.
"I try to always be very aggressive and take some time away and it looks like Coco doesn't really like it," she said.
"We had some good battles in the past. I always try to go as much as I can with confidence and conviction in my shot. And to add a tied record with Coco gave me confidence that I had to go for it, especially after the match of yesterday with Naomi," she added.
Gauff, who hails from South Florida, was disappointed not to have progressed further in front of a home crowd.
"It is a tough loss," she said, "It was basically an up and down match. She played aggressive, which I knew coming in and I think it was really important for me to just change the height of the ball.
"I did that well for the majority of the second set. And then starting off the third with an early break, I think just completely changed the momentum," added the American.
Fourth seed Elena Rybakina defeated American Madison Keys 6-3 7-5 to set up a quarter-final with Greece's Maria Sakkari.
Sakkari advanced with a walkover after Anna Kalinskaya had to withdraw ahead of their match on Monday due to a right thigh injury.
Victoria Azarenka also progressed with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Britain's Katie Boulter.
World number one Iga Swiatek is in action later on Monday against Ekaterina Alexandrova.
