KRISTINA Mladenovic bucked the trend on day four of the WTA Tour’s Miami Open fantasy tennis tournament. The Frenchwoman won in three tough sets over 16th seed Alison Riske to advance through to the Round of 32. Mladenovic dropped the second set in the match, but recovered with a timely break in the deciding set to triumph, 6-2 5-7 6-3. She was one of only three unseeded players on day four to win, and remains one of just six in total remaining in the 32-player draw.

The other two unseeded players to win through to the third round were Poland’s Magda Linette and Russian qualifier, Anastasia Potapova. Linette downed 30th seed Czech, Barbora Strycova in three sets, 6-3 3-6 7-6, while Potapova won through with a 2-6 6-2 6-3 come-from-behind win over 20th seed Croatian, Donna Vekic. They all face tougher challenges in the next round, but have escaped elimination for now. The matches were largely one-sided otherwise with just one other three-set contest where the seeded player triumphed. Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva won 4-6 6-4 6-1 in a massive come-from-behind victory over Latvian, Jelena Ostapenko. Putintseva won eight of the last nine games to run away with the match in two hours and 17 minutes.

At the top end of the seeds, there was little to no challenge for the five top 10 players out on the hard court today. World number one Ash Barty ran away with a 6-1 6-4 win over American wildcard Venus Williams, while third seed Sofia Kenin kept her run going with a 6-2 6-4 triumph over compatriot, Lauren Davis. In another all-American battle, multiple Grand Slam champion Serena Williams went better than her older sister thanks to a 6-2 6-3 victory over Jessica Pegula, as Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic and Spain’s Garbine Muguruza also booked spots in the Round of 32 with straight sets wins over China’s Yafan Wang and Italian Camila Giorgi.

Also through to the next round were top 20 seeds, Petra Martic, Elena Rybakina and Maria Sakkari who all cruised through in their respective matches, while Amanda Anisimova toppled veteran Spaniard, Carla Suarez Navarro in front of home fans. Other winners on the fourth day were Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit, Czech Republic’s Karolina Muchova and China’s Shuai Zhang who all booked safe passage through to the Round of 32.

Looking ahead to the Round of 32, the highly anticipated matches include in-form 24th seed, Ekaterina Alexandrova up against 12th seed, Madison Keys, while 11th seed Petra Kvitova takes on 22nd seed Dayana Yastremska.

ROUND OF 64 RESULTS:

[1] Ash Barty (AUS) defeated [WC] Venus Williams (USA) 6-1 6-4
[3] Sofia Kenin (USA) defeated Lauren Davis (USA) 6-2 6-4
[6] Serena Williams (USA) defeated Jessica Pegula (USA) 6-2 6-3
[8] Belinda Bencic (SUI) defeated Yafan Wang (CHN) 6-1 6-4
[10] Garbine Muguruza (ESP) defeated Camila Giorgi (ITA) 6-2 6-3
[14] Petra Martic (CRO) defeated Sloane Stephens (USA) 6-3 6-1
[15] Elena Rybakina (KAZ) defeated Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) 6-1 6-2
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) defeated [16] Alison Riske (USA) 6-2 5-7 6-3
[17] Maria Sakkari (GRE) defeated Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) 7-5 6-3
[Q] Anastasia Potapova (RUS) defeated [20] Donna Vekic (CRO) 2-6 6-2 6-3
[21] Anett Kontaveit (EST) defeated [Q] Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) 6-0 6-4
[23] Karolina Muchova (CZE) defeated Christina McHale (USA) 7-5 6-4
[25] Amanda Anisimova (USA) defeated Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) 6-3 6-3
Magda Linette (POL) defeated [30] Barbora Strycova 6-3 3-6 7-6
[31] Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) defeated Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) 4-6 6-4 6-1
[32] Shuai Zhang (CHN) defeated Laura Siegemund (GER) 6-4 6-3