No. 3 seed Coco Gauff lost to unseeded Magda Linette 6-4, 6-4 on Monday to miss out on a spot in the Miami Open quarterfinals on what was a tough day for American women.
Defending champion Danielle Collins, Amanda Anisimova and Ashlyn Krueger also went out in straight sets.
Gauff struggled mightily with her serve, committing 12 double-faults and putting just half of her first serves into play while piling up unforced errors against her 34th-ranked opponent.
The South Florida crowd came alive after Gauff pulled ahead 4-3 in the second set, but Linette held her nerve to secure her first win over a top-three player since 2021.
Next up for Linette is Italian sixth seed Jasmine Paolini, who defeated Japan’s Naomi Osaka 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 earlier Monday.
In other women’s results, top seed Aryna Sabalenka crushed 23 winners, including seven aces, to overpower Collins 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals. There, she will meet Qinwen Zheng, who beat Krueger 6-2, 7-6 (3) in their round of 16 match.
Sabalenka, also the world No. 1, will be a heavy favorite against Zheng, who has never beaten the Belarusian in their five previous career meetings.
Jessica Pegula was left to fly the flag for the American women after she won the final six games of her match to put away Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 6-3.
Pegula, the No. 4 seed, faces Britain’s Emma Raducanu next after the former US Open champion defeated Anisimova 6-1, 6-3 in hot and humid conditions.
Raducanu did not drop a point on serve in the first set against the 17th seed and outmaneuvered her in a rally on match point to seal the win.
It will be the first Masters 1000 quarterfinal for the 22-year-old Raducanu, who has split her two previous career meetings with Pegula.
“I know it’s going to be a really difficult match but I think I’m playing pretty good tennis,” Raducanu told the Tennis Channel. “I’m really happy with the way things are going and more importantly just enjoying finding the competitive spirit again.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
