Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ontario has reached the quarterfinals of the 2021 Miami Open. On Monday, in one of the biggest matches of the tournament to date, Andreescu defeated Garbine Muguruza of Spain in a battle of major champions. Andreescu, the 2019 United States Open champion, and the Miami Open’s eighth-seed, beat Muguruza, the 2016 French Open champion, and the 2017 Wimbledon champion, as well as the Miami Open’s 12th-seed, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, in the fourth round.
One could argue this was Andreescu’s most significant win in women’s tennis since she beat Serena Williams of the United States in the final of Flushing Meadows in 2019. After a sluggish start, Andreescu rebounded nicely and took control of the second and third sets with excellent shotmaking.
It was Andreescu’s second career win over Muguruza. The first came in 2019, when Andreescu beat Muguruza with ease, 6-0, 6-1 in the quarterfinals of Indian Wells. Andreescu did go on to win that tournament, as she beat Angelique Kerber of Germany in the final, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
Andreescu will now go on to play Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. This will be their first head-to-head meeting. In the tournament to date, Andreescu got a bye to the second round, beat Tereza Martincova of the Czech Republic 7-6, 6-2 in round two, and then beat Amanda Anisimova of the United States, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 in the third round. Anisimova is best known for reaching the 2019 French Open semifinals.
Two quarterfinals are happening on Tuesday, and two on Wednesday. Ashleigh Barty of Australia has already beaten Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-4, 6-7, 6-3. The other two quarterfinals have Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia against Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine, and Naomi Osaka of Japan against Maria Sakkari of Greece.
