British number one Johanna Konta crashed out of the Miami Open in round two but Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams progressed. Konta opened up a 4-2 first-set lead but then suffered a meltdown as China’s Wang Qiang won 10 consecutive games to take the match.
It was another disappointing display from a player ranked fourth in the world in the summer of 2017 but now down at 38. Wang’s reward will be a third-round showdown with Serena Williams, who was pushed by Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson before emerging a 6-3 1-6 6-1 winner.
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Osaka also required three sets to move past Yanina Wickmayer, securing a 6-0 6-7 (3-7) 6-1 triumph in Florida. The world number one, winner of the past two grand slams, admitted she had to sort out the mental side of her game after suffer a mid-match dip.
“In the second set I got really emotional, so in the third I just tried to shut off my feelings,” she said. “I started thinking about winning and not the things I could do in order to win. I had a dip and she started playing really well. “I had to breathe and regroup. I find myself doing it often when I am in emotional situations.”
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