No. 5 seed Francesca Schiavone met a surprise opponent Sunday on stadium court, but defeated Spain’s Lourdes Dominguez Lino, in the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open, 6-4, 7-6(2). Dominguez Lino, who defeated the seeded Tsvetana Pironkova to advance out of the second round, fought for a chance in the second set, winning four out of seven break-points. Schiavone had the opportunity to serve for the match, but Dominguez Lino’s successful breaks delayed the Italian’s eventual win. Schiavone faces Agnieszka Radwanska in the fourth round.
Radwanska, the No. 9 seed, defeated 24th seed, Maria Kirilenko in nearly two hours, 7-6(1), 6-3. Radwanska reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open earlier this year, but lost to Clijsters, the eventual champion. The Pole has four career titles, and had her best result in Miami last year, where she reached the quarter-finals but fell to Venus Williams. Radwanska now leads meetings with Kirilenko, 5-2.
Marion Bartoli won her 19th match of the year today against Ekatarina Makarova. The 2011 Indian Wells finalist defeated Makarova in the hour-long match, 6-0, 6-2. Bartoli reached the quarter-finals of the Miami tournament as a qualifier in 2003, and lost in the semi-finals last year to three-time champion, Venus Williams. She now has two wins against the Russian Makarova, and advances to the fourth round, where she could face No. 3 seed, Vera Zvonareva.
Virginie Razzano, who challenged No. 19 seed Ana Ivanovic in the first set of their match, eventually retired due to a left thigh injury. The French player broke Ivanovic three times and won the first set 6-2, but Ivanovic answered with two breaks in the second set, and held her serve to take the set 6-2. Razzano then retired, down three games to Ivanovic, who will advance to the fourth round and could face World No. 2 Kim Clijsters.
