1 of 5 | American Danielle Collins (pictured) will face Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova in a women's singles semifinal Thursday in Miami Gardens, Fla. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI |
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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla., March 28 (UPI) -- Ekaterina Alexandrova and Danielle Collins each won quarterfinal matches on Day 9 of the Miami Open, setting up a semifinal meeting, with the winner taking on Elena Rybakina or Victoria Azarenka in Saturday's finale.
Collins advanced in the first match of the day in Miami Gardens, beating No. 27 Caroline Garcia of France in just 76 minutes. The American, ranked No. 53, fired three aces and converted 3 of 8 break point opportunities in the 6-3, 6-2 triumph Wednesday at Hard Rock Stadium.
"Right now, I'm timing the ball really well," Collins told reporters. "I think I have made some physical adjustments too that's kind of helped me be able to kind of control my shots more and hit them with more accuracy and precision. I have been working on that for a while."
Collins will meet Alexandrova in a semifinal match that will not start before 8:30 p.m. EDT Thursday at Hard Rock Stadium. Alexandrova, ranked No. 16, advanced with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 triumph over No. 5 Jessica Pegula of the United States. The Russian fired three aces and converted 4 of 8 break point opportunities.
On the men's side, No. 3 Jannik Sinner of Italy dispatched No. 60 Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic in just 93 minutes. Sinner smashed a trio of aces and converted 4 of 11 break point opportunities in the 6-4, 6-2 triumph.
He will meet No. 3 Daniil Medvedev of Russia on Friday in a men's singles semifinal.
"I just came here knowing in my mind that this is a new challenge for me, a new opportunity to make something happen," Sinner said.
"Again here in the semifinals, it's a great result already. I'm looking forward for the next round, because it's going to be a really tough match."
Medvedev also won his quarterfinal in straight sets, ousting No. 23 Nicolas Jarry of Chile 6-2, 7-6(7). The Russian logged six aces and converted 2 of 4 break point chances.
No. 5 Alexander Zverev of Germany will battle No. 57 Fabian Marozsan of Hungary in the first match of Thursday's slate. That match will start at 1 p.m. at Hard Rock Stadium. The Rybakina-Azarenka match will follow on the same court.
Men's No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain will then face No. 12 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in the final men's quarterfinal.
The winners of the men's and women's finals will receive $1.1 million apiece. Second-place finishers will take home $585,000.
