Women’s Field Shrinks in Miami as Azarenka Extends Streak to 26 Straight Wins

World number one-ranked Victoria Azarenka of Belarus narrowly got past Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, 1-6, 7-6, 7-5 to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. Azarenka’s win, her 26th consecutive victory to begin the 2012 campaign, was a grueling two hour and 49 min. affair that sets up a quarterfinals match with Marion Bartoli of France.

"Marion is a great player and she’s a great fighter," said Azarenka of her next-round opponent. "I know we had so many matches already and we had a lot of tough battles, so this is going to be another tough one, for sure."

Bartoli made quick work of the 22nd-seeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia, 6-1, 6-2 in just 67 min.

Also advancing to the quarterfinals is American Serena Williams with a 7-5, 6-3 win over 2011 U.S. Open winner Samantha Stosur of Australia. It was Stosur in September who defeated Serena at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center to take the 2011 U.S. Open crown.

"Every match for me is a joy to win," said Serena. "Every time I go out there and win it’s good for me. I like it and I enjoy it. It makes me really happy."

Up next for Serena is former world number one-ranked Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, a 7-6(6), 6-0 winner over the number 23 seed, Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium.

Also joining Serena in the quarterfinals is sister Venus Williams, a 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-2 winner over Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic. Up next for Venus is Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska, the number five seed, a 6-3, 6-2 winner over wild card entry Garbine Muguruza Blanco of Spain.

"I felt like Ana played so well," said Venus. "I didn’t feel like I had an opening in the first set. I want to continue to up my serve throughout the whole tournament, so I was excited to get this win."

Russia’s Maria Sharapova is also headed to the quarterfinals in Miami after her 6-4, 7-6 win over fellow Russian, the unseeded Ekaterina Makarova. Sharapova advances to face defending French Open champ Li Na of China, a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 winner over German Sabine Lisicki.