Barty, Tsitsipas advance in Miami as injured Halep pulls out

World No 1 Ashleigh Barty looked sharp in a straight-sets victory over Jelena Ostapenko Saturday at the Miami Open.

Ashleigh Barty returns a shot during her third round win over Jelena Ostapenko in the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium

World No 1 Ashleigh Barty looked sharp in a straight-sets victory over Jelena Ostapenko Saturday at the Miami Open, where men’s second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas cruised past lucky loser Damir Dzumhur.

Defending champion Barty was denied in five set-point chances in the final game of the opening set before claiming it on a service winner after 37 minutes.

Former French Open champion Ostapenko, now ranked 54th in the world, broke Barty for a 2-0 lead to start the second set.

But 2019 Roland Garros champion Barty won the next six games for a victory that looked more impressive than her three-set battle to subdue Kristina Kucova in her opening match.

“Today felt like I was a lot sharper and switched-on and ready to go from the very first point,” the Australian star said.

“That was the goal today, to try to bring the tennis back to my kind of tempo and my kind of rhythm as often as possible and as quickly as possible in points.

“She obviously has the ability to take that away from you quite quickly, particularly off serve and first shot and off her returns.”

Next up for Barty will be 14th seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, who beat 24th seed Angelique Kerber of Germany 7-5 6-2 in a battle of former world number ones.

While Barty cruised into the round of 16, the women’s draw lost world number three Simona Halep of Romania, who withdrew from her scheduled match with Latvian Anastasija Sevastova with a right shoulder injury.

“I’m very sorry I have to pull out of singles and doubles at the Miami Open, but my injury doesn’t let me play here as expected,” Halep said in a statement.

The two-time grand slam winner had said the shoulder was giving her trouble even before her three-set victory over France’s Caroline Garcia in her second-round opener.

Sevastova received a walkover into the fourth round, where she will face 338th-ranked Ana Konjuh of Croatia, who upset 15th-seeded Polish teen Iga Swiatek, the reigning French Open champion, 6-4 2-6 6-2.

Greece’s Tsitsipas – ranked fifth in the world but seeded second behind world No 2 Daniil Medvedev in the Masters 1000 event that is missing top-ranked Novak Djokovic, world number three Rafael Nadal and No 4 Dominic Thiem as well as Roger Federer and Andy Murray – had little trouble in a 6-1 6-4 over Bosnian lucky loser Damir Dzumhur.