Daria Saville has secured back-to-back final 16 showing in 1000-level tournaments after Katerina Siniakova retired from their third-round match in Miami.
Saville led 6-0 1-0 when the Czech retired after 36 minutes on court. Progress to the fourth round, where the Australian will face Lucia Bronzetti, ensures a further push towards the top 100 after she dropped outside the top 600 in February.
Contesting her first individual tournaments since Roland Garros in 2020, Saville has recently recorded a quarterfinal run in Guadalajara, and defeated higher-ranked opponents including Ons Jabeur and Elise Mertens to reach the fourth round at Indian Wells.
On the comeback trail from injury, the former top-20 ranked Saville has equalled her best showing at the prestigious tournament. In a fourth-round run at Miami in 2015, Saville upset No.2 seed Maria Sharapova.
Alex de Minaur also progressed in an all-Aussie encounter at the Miami Open, claiming a 6-2 6-3 win over Jordan Thompson.
The 23-year-old De Minaur easily maintained momentum over Thompson, claiming breaks in the third and seventh game of the first set, and racing to a 4-0 lead in the second.
While he dropped serve in the eighth game, De Minaur quickly recovered to secure victory in 69 minutes.
It was a more challenging day for Australia’s doubles players, with Sam Stosur and John Peers both recording first-round losses.
