Osaka’s streak ends

Miami, April 1

As Naomi Osaka’s 23-match winning streak neared an end, she paused before serving to crane her neck and study the sky, as if seeking intervention from above.

Then she carried on, and so did 23rd seed Maria Sakkari, who upset Osaka 6-0 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open. Sakkari earned her sixth career win over a top-five opponent. The defeat was Osaka’s first since February 2020, and it ended any chance of reclaiming the No. 1 ranking this week from Ash Barty, who is in the semifinals.

Greek Sakkari will next play eighth seed Bianca Andreescu of Canada, who dropped serve eight times but still outlasted unseeded Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-4 3-6 6-3. The other semifinal will pit top seed Barty against fifth seed Elina Svitolina.

Medvedev ousted

Roberto Bautista Agut maintained his spotless record against Daniil Medvedev with a 6-4 6-2 quarterfinal victory over the world No. 2, ensuring there will be a new ATP Masters 1000 winner on Sunday. With the exit of the Russian top seed there are no players with a Masters 1000 title left in the draw.

Italian 19-year-old Jannik Sinner earned his first semifinal berth in an ATP Tour top-level event by beating 32nd seed Alexander Bublik 7-6(5) 6-4. — Agencies