Shnaider faced just two break points, saving both, and put consistent pressure on Fernandez’s serve.

The seventh-seeded Russian had 15 break-point chances, converting four of them.

Shnaider will face either top-seeded American Jessica Pegula or 14th-seeded Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the quarterfinals of the WTA 500 event.

Fernandez, who was seeded ninth in South Carolina, saw her record this year fall to 4-9.

Shnaider has won three straight matches against Fernandez to take a 3-2 lead in their career series.


Fernandez, seeded ninth at the WTA 500 hardcourt event, converted four of her nine break chances while defending all three break points she faced to wrap up the match in one hour and 15 minutes.

The 23-year-old from Laval, Que., is looking to go on a run in South Carolina after a tough start to the season. She entered the event with a 3-8 record.

Fernandez will next face seventh seed Diana Shnaider. They have split their previous four meetings, but the 21-year-old Russian has won the last two.

Later Wednesday, Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., was scheduled to face 16th-seeded American Sofia Kenin.

Andreescu opened the tournament with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over Hungary’s Dalma Galfi. It was the first WTA Tour main-draw win of the season for the former world No. 4.

The Canadian won her first WTA main-draw match since last July with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 upset of world No. 84 Dalma Galfi of Hungary in the first round of the Charleston Open, a WTA 250 clay-court event.

Andreescu, whose ranking has slipped to No. 140, has played mostly lower-level events this year as she tries to boost her ranking to the highs of 2019 when she won the U.S. Open and reached No. 4 in the world.

Andreescu lost a three-set match to Galfi in February in Austin, Texas. The Canadian’s last main-draw win came at last year’s National Bank Open presented by Rogers in Montreal when she suffered an ankle injury, preventing her from playing in the second round.

Andreescu, 25, has done well building herself back up at lower levels this year, sporting a win-loss record of 19-5.

She started the year at No. 228.

“I wanted to do that back in 2024 (after a nine-month hiatus), but I guess we can say my ego got in the way of that,” Andreescu said of her decision to return to lower levels this year, per the WTA Tour. “I decided that maybe it’s time to put that aside and really get what I’ve been needing, which is matches. It’s never guaranteed that you’ll be getting a lot of matches — the level on the ITF circuit is huge, I think. They’re fighting for a lot.

“Looking back at how I feel being on the WTA Tour, it’s more comfortable, right? You get more benefits being on the WTA Tour, so mentally you maybe relax a little bit. But on the ITF tour, I mean, it’s do-or-die. These players are barely breaking even. I proved to myself that I can play match after match and feel good. I played 14 matches in 16 or 17 days, and my body felt great.”

Andreescu said she was happy with her effort against Kalma.

“At the end of the day, it’s the effort that counts for me,” she said in her on-court interview. “If I’ve given the best I could that day, which I think I did, that’s the most important thing. And then intention, that’s what I speak about with my coach every single day. If I can give those two things, then win or lose, it doesn’t matter to me — have to be pleased with that.”

Andreescu will next face No. 16 seed Sofia Kenin of the U.S.

The world No. 1 overpowered fourth-ranked Gauff in the first and third sets with sizzling groundstroke winners and became the first player to accomplish the “Sunshine Double” — winning Indian Wells followed by Miami in the same season — since Iga Swiatek in 2022.

It was Sabalenka’s second straight title at the Miami Open, Gauff’s hometown tournament, and put her ahead of Gauff in their head-to-head record, 7-6.

“You’ve pushed me to be a better player,’’ Sabalenka said during the ceremony, before adding about the crowd, “You always bring a full stadium.’’

The match lasted 2 hours, 11 minutes and ended on Gauff getting broken for the fourth time with a wide backhand.

Gauff fought back to force the third set, but couldn’t maintain the momentum she appeared to get from the deafening crowd supporting her.

“It sucks not to come out with a better result but I had a lot of joy this week,’’ Gauff said to the crowd. “You guys brought energy every day this week.’’

Gauff’s off-and-on serve created seven double faults while Sabalenka registered none.

Sabalenka broke Gauff in the first game of the third set, helped by a Gauff double fault and an unforced error. On break point, Sabalenka crunched a backhand winner.

“I was disappointed about that first game of the third set up 30-0 with momentum,’’ Gauff said. “It was an important game to win in that moment.’’

The match was attended by Kai Trump, President Donald Trump’s granddaughter and a golfer at the University of Miami. She posted a photo with Sabalenka at the tournament on social media on Friday.

Sabalenka, who got her 24th pro title, said before the match she was happy Gauff had found her best tennis in her home tournament, at which she had never gotten past the fourth round.

Victoria Mboko and Marina Stakusic have withdrawn from the event due to injury-related issues, the organization announced on Saturday.

Ariana Arseneault has been added to the roster, joining Bianca Andreescu, Gabriela Dabrowski and Kayla Cross.

Mboko cited a medical procedure as the reason for her absence.

“I am very sorry to have to withdraw from the upcoming Billie Jean King Cup tie in Kazakhstan,” Mboko said in a statement. “In recent days, I have experienced recurring dental pain and will need to remove my four wisdom teeth in the coming days. Given that, I am sadly unable to travel to Kazakhstan and will therefore miss this tie.

“There is no greater privilege than playing for and representing Canada — I wish the team the best of luck next week and I am very much looking forward to joining the team again later this year.”

The 19-year-old added that representing Canada remains a top priority.

Stakusic, meanwhile, is dealing with a back injury that forced her to step aside ahead of the tie.

“I’m really disappointed to have to pull out of the Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers, but I felt this was the best decision I could make for the team given that my body is not at 100 per cent,” she said. “Representing Team Canada is an honour that I don’t take for granted, and the weeks spent with the team are some of my favourites of the year.”

Both teams converted three breaks over the first two sets before the second-seeded duo of Siniakova and Townsend took over in the tiebreak.

Dabrowski and Stefani, seeded third in Miami, have made it to at least the quarterfinals of every event they have played in this season, and won a WTA 1000 title in Dubai last month.

Dabrowski is playing with Stefani after ending a successful partnership with New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe that included two U.S. Open titles and a WTA Finals championship.


Muchova posted a 7-5, 7-6 (5) win over Mboko in a tightly contested quarterfinal Tuesday at the Miami Open.

The Czech veteran scored the only break of the match when she came back from 30-love to take a 6-5 lead in the first set. 

She then saved a set point in the second set before winning the tiebreaker, converting match point against serve.

Mboko was in the quarterfinals of a third straight 1000-level tournament, a run that started with a loss to Muchova in the final of the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month.

She also advanced to the quarterfinals at Indian Wells, Calif., earlier this month before losing to top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka.

The 19-year-old from Burlington, Ont., who entered Miami ranked ninth in the world, improved her record this season to 19-6 with her run to the quarterfinals in Miami.

Mboko, the tournament’s 10th seed, had six aces to seven double faults and converted on just one of her six break-point chances.

However, the 19-year-old won 77.8 per cent of first-serve points in the two-hour, 17-minute women’s singles match.

The 18-year-old Andreeva, the eighth seed, had six aces to two double faults and broke once in four chances. She won 66.7 per cent of first-serve points.

In men’s singles action, Montreal’s Félix Auger-Aliassime was ousted in the third round by France’s Terence Atmane 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.

The seventh-seeded Auger-Aliassime had 11 aces to four double faults and had 26 winners to Atmane’s 12. However, the Frenchman won three straight games to break a 2-2 tie in the final set before sealing the deal two games later.