MIAMI, FL, USA - No.10 seed Angelique Kerber marched past Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets to reach the round of 16 at the Miami Open.

The 6-4, 6-4 victory not only earns Kerber her 20th match win of the season, it also gives her some revenge over longtime rival Pavlyuchenkova, who beat her in all three of their previous meetings in 2017.

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“I know what to expect from her,” Kerber said afterwards. “I played against her three times last year, and I lost all three times. So now I was really trying to go for it and I was really motivated to play every single point, and I changed up a little bit my game from the last time I played her.

“I was just a little bit more aggressive, moving good and serving good. It was a tricky match, but in the end I’m through it in two sets. It’s a good feeling to be in the next round.”

Kerber started out the twelfth meeting of their long rivalry looking almost untouchable on serve. The German won 100% of the points behind her first serve and 78% of her second serves - dropping just two points in all of her service games.

As a result, Pavlyuchenkova was under a lot of pressure in her own serve, finding herself struggling to hold on. Three of her five service games went to deuce multiple times, and she faced eight break points in total, managing to save all but one - the very first of the set - as Kerber edged ahead 6-4.

But Kerber’s superhuman service stats were bound to take a dip, and Pavlyuchenkova was right there to take advantage, breaking to love to start set two 2-0. The Russian stepped in to tee off on Kerber’s now-attackable serve, but her own delivery woes meant she couldn’t consolidate any of her advantages. The pair traded breaks twice, drawing level at 3-3.

Kerber finally broke through late in the set, staying aggressive and coming away with the edge after three straight breaks of serve. She consolidated emphatically to edge through and close out the match after an hour and 38 minutes.

“I think my serve was really important, especially in the first said,” Kerber said. “My serve was not bad, and also in the second set it was not bad. I was just trying to play my game from the first until the last point.

“I was a little bit nervous at the end, but I’m through it and it’s a good feeling to beat her. She’s a tough opponent.”

Kerber’s victory earns her a matchup with Wang Yafan in the next round. The Chinese player battled past a rollercoaster encounter against Alison Riske, winning 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4).