Heather Watson continues excellent form to reach last 16 in Miami
Saturday 26 March 2016 23:16, UK
Heather Watson continued her excellent form as she battled past Yanina Wickmayer to reach the last 16 of the Miami Open.
The Guernsey-born player needed over two and a half hours to see off the former US Open semi-finalist 3-6 7-5 6-3.
In the deciding set, the world No 69 staved off two break points in game five, before securing the only break three games later.
Watson had lost all three previous clashes - which were also on hard court - to the Belgian who is ranked 22 spots above her.
And there was little to choose between the two players throughout the contest with Watson, a winner of her third WTA Tour title earlier this month, holding her nerve at the crucial moments in sets two and three.
The 23-year-old beat the seeded Sloane Stephens in round two and will now face the world No 5 Simona Halep who eased past Julia Goerges in straight sets 6-4 6-1.
And there were few problems for world No 1 Serena Williams who is seeking her fourth consecutive title in Miami.
The 34-year-old American reached the fourth round with a 7-5 6-3 win over Kazakhstan's Zarina Diyas - the world No 97.
Willliams now faces Russia's No 15 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova who she beat at the same stage last year and against whom she holds an 8-2 win-loss record.
In other matches on Saturday, two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova threw away a 4-1 lead in the opening set as she lost 6-4 6-4 to Ekaterina Makarova of Russia.
And world No 2 Agnieszka Radwanska was an easy winner over Madison Brengle of the United States.
The Polish-player won 11 of the final 13 games en route to a 6-3 6-2 victory in just 75 minutes.
