Boulter into last 16 in Miami, Sabalenka and Jabeur knocked out

Katie Boutler’s superb start to 2024 continued after she beat Beatriz Haddad Maia to reach the last 16 of the Miami Open.

The Briton, seeded 24th in Florida, dispatched the no. 11 seed 6-2 6-3 in an hour and a half to compound the Brazilian to a second straight defeat to her, following Boulter’s victory over the world No. 13 in San Diego.

Boulter won that title, and her good form has continued in Miami, where she will next face Victoria Azarenka after the experienced 27th seed beat Qinwen Zheng 6-4 7-5 to reach the last 16.

Elsewhere, Aryna Sabalenka, the world No. 2, was stunned by Anhelina Kalinina 6-4 1-6 6-1.

The Ukrainian Kalinina came back from a break down in the first set, but Sabalenka found her rhythm to strike back in typical, aggressive style.

However, the Belarusian was careless in her hitting with 55 unforced errors as Kalinina raced into a 4-0 lead in the decider.

Yulia Putintseva is next up for Kalinina, the 32nd seed.

Meanwhile, Ons Jabeur was another top ten seed to fall to a shock defeat as she was beaten 6-1 4-6 6-3 by Elina Araratovna, and Jelena Ostapenko, the no. 9 seed, was knocked out by Anna Kalinskaya in straight sets.