World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka advanced to her fifth quarterfinal of the season after defeating No.16 seed Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 6-2 in the fourth round of the Miami Open.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
With a straight-set win on Monday, Sabalenka improved her tour-leading record to 20-2 on the season. This was the third meeting of the season between Sabalenka and Krejcikova, with all three coming at the first three WTA 1000 events of the season.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Krejcikova snapped Sabalenka's 13-match win streak in February en route to the title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Sabalenka got her revenge two weeks ago at the BNP Paribas Open.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I'm super happy with my level today, it's always tough against Barbora. I think the key today was my serve, I just put so much pressure on her. I could play free, go for the lines, hit the ball a little bit harder," said Sabalenka.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I think in the last two matches I won the first set and every time in the second set I would get crazy on court and talking to myself, lose it a little bit. Today I tried to stay focused no matter what, keep doing my thing, and focus on myself," she said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Sabalenka will next face Romania's Sorana Cirstea, who has reached back-to-back quarterfinals in Indian Wells and Miami. The 32-year-old has beaten Czech Marketa Vondrousova 7-6(3), 6-4.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
On the other hand, Jessica Pegula is on a roll as she prevailed over Poland's Magda Linette, 6-1, 7-5. This is the fifth time the American reached the quarterfinals this season, and her fifth win over a top 20 player this season.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Pegula's quarterfinal opponent will be Anastasia Potapova. It's a rematch of their third-round match at the Indian wells, won by Pegula only 16 days ago in three sets.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"It's going to be really tough. I just played her in Indian Wells and we really had a battle. She was playing at a really high level. She has been, for the last two, three tournaments she's been playing well. She's confident right now, she's swinging for the fences," Pegula said of Potapova.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I think she probably likes these conditions a little fast. I'm going to take what I learned from playing her last time and I'm sure she's going to do the same thing and we're going to have a good match."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"It's going to be really tough. I just played her in Indian Wells and we really had a battle. She was playing at a really high level. She has been, for the last two, three tournaments she's been playing well. She's confident right now, she's swinging for the fences," Pegula said of Potapova.<\/p>\r\n\r\n