Americans Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff secured straight-sets victories over Canadians on Thursday to book their spots in the third round of the Miami Open.
Third seed Pegula beat qualifier Katherine Sebov 6-3 6-1 and will next face fellow American Danielle Collins while sixth seed Gauff eased past Rebecca Marino 6-4 6-3 to set up a battle with Russia's Anastasia Potapova.
Pegula, a semifinalist last year in Miami who lives about 40 minutes away from the tournament venue, converted five of her nine break point opportunities and found her groove as her first career match against Sebov wore on.
The perfect start ??@JLPegula cruises into the third round with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Sebov. #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/Ol7iEKadCd
— wta (@WTA) March 23, 2023
"I just went out the and took care of business ... fought through some tricky moments in the first set but then I think I started to free up after that," Pegula said in her on-court interview.
Pegula opened the match with a break but Sebov broke back at love to level at 2-2 before the American took control with another break for a 3-2 lead and closed out the first set in 35 minutes.
The 29-year-old Pegula had a much easier time in the second set where she broke early for a 2-0 lead and dropped just two points on serve the rest of the way.
Gauff, who resides in Southeast Florida and is coming off a run to the quarterfinals in Indian Wells, also converted five of her nine break point chances and twice came back from a break down in the second set.
"Playing at home is something I look forward to but it's also a little extra pressure because you know everybody wants you to do well here." said Gauff.
Coco movin' on ??@CocoGauff navigates past Marino 6-4, 6-3 to reach the third round in Miami!#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/DsmP1sRfqK
— wta (@WTA) March 23, 2023
With the victory, the 19-year-old Gauff broke a stalemate with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and now holds the record for most wins (34) at WTA 1000 events before turning 20.
In other second-round action, Belgian Elise Mertens beat Russian eighth seed Daria Kasatkina while Latvian 24th seed Jelena Ostapenko, Spanish 21st seed Paula Badosa and China's Zheng Qinwen, the 23rd seed, also advanced.
Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, fresh off her triumph at Indian Wells, will close out the evening session when she faces Russia's Anna Kalinskaya for a spot in the third round.
If Rybakina lifts the title in Miami, she would become only the fifth woman to win the Indian Wells and Miami tournaments back-to-back, a feat known as the "Sunshine Double" given the tournaments' locations in California and Florida.