Miami Open: Azarenka reaches last 16, defeating Australian Open runner-up Zheng

Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, the No 27 seed, advanced to the last 16 of the Miami Open by winning against Chinese Qinwen Zheng, the No 7 seed, 6-4, 7-5 at the Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday night.

Azarenka, ranked No 32, will face the winner of the match between No 24 seed Katie Boulter and Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia, the No 11 seed, next.

Ahead of her victory, the 34-year-old Belarusian edged out American Peyton Stearns (7-5, 3-6, 6-4).

Zheng, ranked No 7, benefited from the abandonment of Katerina Siniakova (4-6, 6-3, 1-0) in the previous round of the Miami tournament.

Miami WTA 1000, other third-round results (Hard Rock Stadium, hard, USD 8.770.480, most recent results first):

• Anhelina Kalinina vs. Aryna Sabalenka
• Yulia Putintseva vs. Greet Minnen
• Katie Boulter vs. Beatriz Haddad Maia
• Daria Kasatkina vs. Sorana Cirstea
• Coco Gauff vs. Oceane Dodin
• Leylah Fernandez vs. Jessica Pegula
• Jasmine Paolini vs. Emma Navarro
• Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Ekaterina Alexandrova
• Iga Swiatek vs. Linda Noskova
• Taylor Townsend vs. Elena Rybakina
• Anna Kalinskaya vs. Jelena Ostapenko
• Xinyu Wang vs. Madison Keys
• Maria Sakkari vs. Dayana Yastremska