Pegula, Gauff turn on cruise mode

Miami, March 24

Americans Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff secured straight-set victories over Canadians on Thursday to book their spots in the third round of the Miami Open, while the Indian Wells champion Elena Rybakina battled to a win over Anna Kalinskaya.

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.

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, Elise Mertens beat eighth seed Daria Kasatkina while Jelena Ostapenko, Paula Badosa and Zheng Qinwen also advanced. Later on Thursday, Rybakina closed out the evening session with a hard-fought 7-5 4-6 6-3 win over Kalinskaya. —Reuters