Siniakova edges Raducanu; Jabeur wins, Pliskova upset in Miami

WTA doubles World No.1 Katerina Siniakova added another upset to her singles resume on Thursday at the Miami Open with a three-set comeback victory over reigning US Open champion and No.11 seed Emma Raducanu. 

Siniakova snapped an eight-match losing streak against Top 20 players with the 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory, in which she trailed 3-1 in the second set and by a break twice in the decider.

After coming from a set and a break down to beat Canadian qualifier Rebecca Marino in the first round, Siniakova won four straight games against Raducanu to reach Round 3 in Miami for the first time in her career. Raducanu never reached match point. 

Siniakova has now won back-to-back singles matches in the main draw of a WTA tournament for the first time since reaching the quarterfinals in Cleveland last August. She saved 12 of the 17 break points she faced in the match, hitting 30 winners, and broke Raducanu six times. 

Highlights: Siniakova def. Raducanu

Jabeur downs Linette for first win in Sunshine Swing, Kalinskaya upsets Pliskova

After dropping her first match at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, there was no repeat for Ons Jabeur in Miami against Poland's Magda Linette. The No.8 seed, who reached Round 4 in Miami a year ago, is back in Round 3 after a 7-6(1), 6-2 victory.

After letting a 3-1 lead slip early in the first set, Jabeur rounded into form just in time. She sprinted through the tiebreak and won four straight games in the second set to beat Linette for the third straight time. 

There's also something about Miami for Anna Kalinskaya. For the second straight year, she's reached the third round after upsetting No.6 seed Karolina Pliskova in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.

As a wildcard a year ago, Kalinskaya upset Irina-Camelia Begu and Petra Martic in her tournament debut, coming within games of defeating Garbiñe Muguruza to reach the last 16. This year, Kalinskaya was two games from defeat at 6-4, 4-1 in her first round match against American teenager Robin Montgomery, the reigning US Open junior champion, but regrouped to win that match ahead of upsetting the former World No.1. 

Pliskova is now 0-2 to start her 2022 season after missing the Australian Open with a hand injury.

Opportunity awaits up next, as one of Kalinskaya or lucky loser Lucia Bronzetti of Italy will reach Round 4. Bronzetti benefitted from the withdrawal of compatriot Camila Giorgi, the No.27 seed, due to injury and won the all-lucky loser second round against Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland, 6-2, 6-1.

More from Miami: Osaka eases by Kerber to advance at Miami Open

Sasnovich upsets Kasatkina in rivalry's latest chapter

On Court 2, Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Daria Kasatkina met for the ninth time in their careers in an all-time head-to-head dating back to their professional beginnings on the ITF World Tennis Tour in 2014.

After losing the past two meetings against Kasatkina from a set up, Sasnovich made no similar mistake in a victory that lasted one minute short of two hours, 7-6(5), 6-4, to reach Round 3 in Miami for the first time in her career.

She came from 3-1 down in the first set to claim it in more than an hour and secured the second set's decisive break at 3-3. Kasatkina saved match point on serve at 5-3 to keep pressure on, and Sasnovich denied her a break point for 5-5 in the next game before serving out victory.

She'll face the winner of the night match between top seed Aryna Sabalenka and qualifier Irina-Camelia Begu.