Sabalenka wins at Miami as injured Ruse retires

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka reached the round of 16 at the Miami Open on Saturday, when Elena-Gabriela Ruse retired with an injury.

“I feel so bad for her. I wish her a speedy recovery. She’s such a fighter,” Sabalenka said in her postmatch, on-court interview. “I hope she gets well soon. Tough to say anything about this match. Just thank you guys for coming and supporting. I love all those posters and T-shirts.”

Sabalenka, who arrived in Miami fresh off a loss in last week’s Indian Wells final, wrapped up the first set at 6-1 before Romanian Ruse was forced to retire with a right thigh injury.

Up next for Sabalenka, the three-time Grand Slam champion, will be the winner of Saturday night’s match on the grandstand between American and defending Miami Open champion Danielle Collins and Swiss qualifier Rebeka Masarova.

Also on Saturday, Naomi Osaka posted a 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-4 win over American wild card Hailey Baptiste, while Italian Jasmine Paolini, the No. 6 seed, advanced when Ons Jabeur, trailing 4-3 in the opening set, had to retire with a left leg injury.

Third-seed Coco Gauff also progressed into the round of 16 with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Greece’s Maria Sakkari.

On the men’s side, top-seed Alexander Zverev defeated Jacob Fearnley 6-2, 6-4 to reach the third round. Zverev looked comfortable against the British qualifier, mixing a solid serve with dominance from the baseline while saving the only two break points he faced during the 74-minute match.

For Zverev, who lost in the first round at Indian Wells, the win gave him a German-record 145th Masters 1000 win, one more than Tommy Haas. He will now face Australia’s Jordan Thompson.

“Happy to kind of have improved a few things from Indian Wells where I didn’t feel well on the court. I didn’t feel like I played good,” Zverev told reporters. “Hopefully this is just the first of many matches for me here and I can continue playing well.”

Hong Kong wild card Coleman Wong stunned 13th-seed Ben Shelton, 7-6(3), 2-6, 7-6(5) to advance, while Canada’s Denis Shapovalov and American third-seed Taylor Fritz also won Saturday, and will meet in the third round.

Information from Reuters was used in this report.