Success in the Sunshine State: Six historic Miami breakthroughs

The second stop of the Sunshine Swing comes annually in the state that bears a similar nickname, as the Miami Open typically caps off the North American spring hard court season in Florida.

Much like its twin tournament in Indian Wells, Miami has also been home to several statement runs in tournament history, from a record eight titles for Serena Williams to notable debuts for some of the WTA's biggest stars. 

Read more: Diamonds in the desert: Seven shining moments in Indian Wells

Take a look back at some of the best breakthrough moments in the Sunshine State since Miami became a Premier Mandatory event in 2009.

Victoria Azarenka - Champion (2009) 

Long a promising talent in her junior years, a teenaged Victoria Azarenka came into her own over the course of the 2009 season.

After winning her first WTA title two months earlier in Brisbane, a 19-year-old Azarenka came to Miami on the back of several other milestones.

She won her second title in Memphis, beating Caroline Wozniacki in the final, and reached the semifinals in the California desert at the BNP Paribas Open to become the second Belarusian to crack the Top 10 in the WTA rankings after Natasha Zvereva. 

Seeded No.11 in Miami, Azarenka did not lose a set en route to the semifinals, and after a three-set win over No.8 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final four, she upset World No.1 Serena Williams to win her first Premier Mandatory title, 6-3, 6-1. 

Azarenka became the sixth teenage female singles champion in the history of the event, joining Stefanie Graf, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams, and Gabriela Sabatini.

As a result, she reached what was then a career-high ranking of World No.8, and later reached her first two Grand Slam quarterfinals at the French Open and Wimbledon.

2009 marked the first of five consecutive years in which Azarenka finished inside the Top 10, which included her year-end World No.1 season in 2012.

Garbiñe Muguruza - Fourth Round (2012)

Long before she was a two-time Grand Slam champion and former World No.1, Garbiñe Muguruza made a splash in her first-ever WTA main draw just weeks after turning professional, at just 18 years old and ranked outside the Top 200 at World No.208.

Having won seven straight matches to win the ITF $25,000 event in Clearwater, Florida the previous week, Muguruza extended her winning streak to 10 straight matches before losing to eventual champion Agnieszka Radwanska.

Among her victories in Miami were a 6-4, 6-3 win over No.9 seed Vera Zvonareva in the second round and a dramatic 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(6) win over No.26 seed Flavia Pennetta in the third round. 

At the time, Muguruza's victory over Zvonareva put her in a three-way tie for the fastest victory over a Top 10 player, as Andrea Leand and Julie Coin also recorded the feat in their second WTA main draw matches.

The Spaniard ultimately cracked the Top 100 for the first time in 2012, and played her in her first Grand Slam main draw that summer at the US Open.

Kirsten Flipkens - Quarterfinals (2013)

After recovering from health complications from blood clots in her calf in 2012, Flipkens had her best season to-date in the next 12 months. 

A nominee for the 2012 WTA Comeback Player of the Year award after winning her first title in Quebec City in September, the Belgian's momentum continued into 2013.

Seeded No.30 at the tournament - thanks in part to two quarterfinals, a semifinal in Hobart and a best-ever fourth round showing at the Australian Open - Flipkens reached her first-ever quarterfinal at a Premier Mandatory event. 

The highlight of her run was a 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 win over No.7 seed Petra Kvitova in the third round, her second career win over a Top 10 foe.

Flipkens' run was ended at the hands of Radwanska, but not before she played her part in one of the more legendary rallies in WTA history.

Read more: Celebrate the seven-year anniversary of iconic Radwanska hot shot

Ultimately, Flipkens had a career year in 2013, reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon before losing to eventual champion Marion Bartoli.

She reached a career-high ranking of World No.13 in August, and finished the season ranked World No.20.

CoCo Vandeweghe - Fourth Round (2014)

A former US Open junior champion, American CoCo Vandeweghe reached her first WTA final in 2012 as a lucky loser, but kick-started a run up the WTA rankings by virtue of a run as a qualifier in Miami six years ago.

After falling outside of the Top 200 in the summer of 2013, the future Top 10 player and two-time Grand Slam semifinalist arrived in Miami on the cusp of returning to the Top 100, ranked World No.104. 

She qualified for the main draw with wins over Alison van Uytvanck and Sharon Fichman, and main-draw victories over Marina Erakovic, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Samantha Stosur followed.

Having lost just one set en route to the round of 16, in a 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 victory over Stosur in the third round, Vandeweghe's run was ultimately ended by eventual champion Serena Williams in the fourth round.

With the result, Vandeweghe reached a what was then a career-high ranking of World No. 82, but by season's end, she'd won her first WTA title in 's-Hertogenbosch and ranked World No.39.

Carla Suárez Navarro - Finalist (2015)

Long a dangerous floater at the biggest tournaments, Carla Suárez Navarro used a run to her first Premier Mandatory final in Miami as a springboard to new heights. 

Having reached four of her now-seven career Grand Slam quarterfinals prior to arriving in Miami in 2015, the Spaniard was already gaining steam ahead of the Sunshine Swing as she made a push to crack the Top 10. 

After reaching the quarterfinals in Indian Wells, losing to eventual champion Simona Halep despite winning the first set, Suárez Navarro arrived in Miami as the No.12 seed. After beating Stefanie Voegele and Alizé Cornet in straight sets in her first two matches, the Spaniard overcame adversity to book a semifinal spot. 

She scored her first head-to-head victory over No.7 seed and former champion Agnieszka Radwanska in the round of 16, 5-7, 6-0, 6-4, and bounced back after a first-set bagel to upend Venus Williams in the last eight, 0-6, 6-1, 7-5, before beating No.9 seed Andrea Petkovic in straight sets to reach the championship match. 

Though she fell to Serena Williams at that stage, Suárez Navarro's run to her biggest career final helped her crack the Top 10 for the first time, a ranking position she'd hover in and around for the better part of a year.

She'd reach a career-high ranking of World No.6 less than 12 months later by winning her biggest title at the Premier 5 event in Doha in February of 2016.

Danielle Collins - Semifinals (2018)

A former All-American and NCAA champion at the University of Virginia, Danielle Collins made a name for herself during a spring surge in the 2018 season -- and was fully riding a wave of momentum by the time she qualified for the main draw in Miami.

After losing just two games against then-World No.37 Irina-Camelia Begu in the opening round, Collins won a trio of dramatic three-setters to seal her place in the quarterfinals.

Her run included wins over Vandeweghe, seeded No.16, Donna Vekic and Monica Puig - rallying from a set down in her last two matches - to set up a meeting with World No.8 Venus Williams.

Undaunted, Collins, who referred to the seven-time Grand Slam champion as her idol, scored a 6-2, 6-3 victory to seal her first Top 10 victory and a berth in the final four.

With her run to the final four, Collins became the first qualifier in Miami Open history to reach the semifinals, where she was beaten by former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.

Nonetheless, Collins' spring surge, which also saw her win the Newport Beach WTA 125 Series event and reach the fourth round of Indian Wells as a wildcard, helped propel her into the Top 50, and gave her the confidence to soar even higher.

The Miami result foreshadowed another big run for Collins less than a year later, as she reached her first Grand Slam semifinal at the 2019 Australian Open.