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Svitolina ends Osaka's run to reach third round in Miami

Svitolina ends Osaka's run to reach third round in Miami

By REUTERS

Elina Svitolina of Ukraine (right) shakes hands with Naomi Osaka of Japan (left) after their match on day four of the Miami Open at Tennis Center at Crandon Parkm in Key Biscayne, Florida, USA on March 23, 2018. Photo: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports via Reuters

Ukrainian fourth seed Elina Svitolina ended Naomi Osaka's remarkable recent run with a 6-4 6-2 triumph over the Indian Wells champion in the second round of the Miami Open on Friday. The 20-year-old Japanese, who followed her Indian Wells title run with a first-round victory over eight-times Miami champion Serena Williams this week, simply had no answer for Svitolina during their 83-minute clash. Svitolina, who last month claimed the sixth title of her career with her triumph at the Dubai Open, faced little resistance as she won 72 percent of her total service points and was broken once. With the win, the Ukrainian will face either Australian 26th seed Daria Gavrilova or German Andrea Petkovic in the third round. Australian 21st seed Ashleigh Barty also reached the third round with a 6-0 7-6(0) win over American wild card Claire Liu. Among the other key matches to be played in the women's draw on Friday are clashes between eighth-seed Venus Williams and Russian Natalia Vikhlyantseva and Danish second seed Caroline Wozniacki's battle with Puerto Rico's Monica Puig.