No.24 seed Jelena Ostapenko got the better of No.13 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia for the fourth time in as many meetings to reach the fourth round of the Miami Open, advancing 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in 2 hours and 21 minutes.
The contest was a rollercoaster, featuring numerous twists and turns in front of an enthusiastic crowd that Ostapenko described as "like a football match" afterward. Ultimately, the former Roland Garros champion came from 3-1 down in the third set to advance.
"I felt like some moments I didn't play aggressively because the ball really stops here," Ostapenko said. "You always really have to go for the ball.
"I'm just really glad I won it because I really wanted to win. The crowd doesn't know: If they are against me, I play even better."
Here are the key numbers from the wild ride:
6-0 - Ostapenko now leads her head-to-head with Haddad Maia 4-0 at pro level. Including a pair of junior meetings, Ostapenko has won all six times she has faced Haddad Maia.
Both of their junior meetings and two of their pro meetings have gone to three sets. Ostapenko also defeated Haddad Maia 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-4 in the 2017 Seoul final to win her second career title.
⭐️ Jelena's day ⭐️@JelenaOstapenk8 fends off Haddad Maia in Miami to reach the fourth round!#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/vE9dN6X8FP
— wta (@WTA) March 25, 2023
41 - Winners struck by Ostapenko, including six aces, compared to 17 by Haddad Maia. From 4-1 down in the second set, Ostapenko tallied five clean return winners and held a point to level at 5-5 but was unable to complete the fightback in that set.
44 - Unforced errors committed by Ostapenko, 19 of which came in the second set, compared to 18 by Haddad Maia.
6 - Haddad Maia missed the first six break points she brought up on the Ostapenko serve, until she found a backhand return winner to take the seventh for 2-1 in the second set. Overall, Haddad Maia converted four of 14 break points, while Ostapenko took six out of 12.
5 - From 3-1 down in the third set, Ostapenko found another purple patch and rattled through the last five games of the match in a row, winning 20 of the last 23 points and ending with another blazing forehand winner down the line.
2 - This is the second time Ostapenko has reached the fourth round in Miami. The last time was in 2018, when she made the final -- a run that also featured a third-round victory over Haddad Maia. Could the same pattern repeat?
Photo Gallery: All this year's three-hour matches
3:17 - In her next match, Ostapenko will face No.25 seed Martina Trevisan of Italy for the first time.
Trevisan advanced to the Round of 16 by defeating American Claire Liu 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in 3 hours and 17 minutes on Saturday -- one of the 10 longest matches of the year so far. Trevisan had previously defeated Liu in straight sets in last year's Rabat final.