Baptiste isn’t too old to join young Americans on top of sport

By Harvey Fialkov / Staff writer

MIAMI GARDENS – Hailey Baptiste may not be brought up in conversations of up-and-coming American young stars, but don’t tell that to this 24-year-old powerhouse.

Baptiste had the fans fired up on Grandstand court on a sun-splashed Sunday afternoon at the Miami Open where she finished off ninth seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, 6-3, 7-5, with a spectacular combination of cannon-like ground strokes and net putaways.

Like the old Monkees song goes, the 45^th-ranked Baptiste is a “believer, yeah, yeah, yeah,’’ and feels like she could beat anyone on the planet.

“I’ve been here for a while,’’ said the 24-year-old D.C. native, who toiled on the lower-level circuit since 2017 before getting her rank up high enough to play the WTA Tour full-time last year. “I pretty much know what I can do, so it’s time for me to show it, I guess.

“The last few months and over the past year I have just been trusting my game and myself as much as possible. Obviously, belief is a huge part of getting wins.”

Baptiste had a career-breakthrough in reaching the semifinals of Dubai last month and came to Miami filled with confidence. Svitolina, ranked No. 8, entered Miami with the most match wins on the Tour (20) and was 15-1 against players ranked outside the Top 20.

Baptiste served for the match at 5-4 of the second set but couldn’t close the deal. However, she broke right back and at 6-5, converted her second match point with an aggressive rush forward where she used a stick-save reflex volley off a Svitolina rocket forehand for a clean winner.

Baptiste let out a roar and pounded her chest in jubilation after her second career win over a Top 10 player and her second fourth-round berth at a WTA 1000 event.

“I had trust in my hands,’’ Baptiste said. “I knew I wanted to take it. I didn’t want to wait for her to miss or anything, so I did the most aggressive thing possible. This [win] is huge.”

Baptiste will next face former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, who upset No. 7 Jasmine Paolini of Italy. Ostapenko was Baptiste’s doubles partner last week at Indian Wells where they reached the third round.

“We were laughing the whole time,’’ said Baptiste, who also has a home in Delray Beach where she occasionally practices with No. 4 Coco Gauff. “I believe if I play my game and do the things I usually do well, then I’ll get out of the match. Obviously, she’s a great player and is going to come and try to beat me. It’s going to be a battle.”

Keys and Jovic fall

American Iva Jovic, the talented 18-year-old and 18^th seed, was unable to stop the torrid run of Aussie 21-year-old qualifier Talia Gibson, who prevailed 6-2, 6-2 over the Californian native and Orlando resident.

Tennis Australia posted that Gibson has five wins over Top 20 players at Indian Wells and the Miami Open in the same year, which ranks No. 5 on the leader’s list along with legends Kim Clijsters (7), Serena Williams (7), Martina Hingis (8) and Steffi Graf (8).

“It’s been real exciting,’’ said Gibson, who also came out of qualifiers at Indian Wells before reaching a career-best quarterfinal in a WTA 1000. “I’ve been able to tick off quite a lot of goals that I’ve had for a long time. It’s really great for me to see the work finally paying off. I’m getting the wins I’ve been close to getting. Hopefully, I can keep getting better and keep developing my game and find myself in situations like this in the future.”

Gibson will next play No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, who coasted to a 6-3, 6-4 win over Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk.

Madison Keys, who practices with Jovic in Orlando, lost a marathon to China’s Qinwen Zheng, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Zheng, a gold medalist in the 2024 Paris Olympics, is on the comeback trail from elbow surgery.

Jessica Pegula, the fifth seed and finalist last year, had another tidy day at the office in a 6-2, 6-2 dusting of Canadian Leylah Fernandez. Pegula, of Boca Raton, has dropped just five games in her first two matches and has been on court for just 1-hour-and-44 minutes.

“I’m playing some of the best tennis I’ve played,’’ said Pegula, 32. “All-around hitting, both shots forehand and backhand. I think I’ve become a much better player. You have to be to compete with the depth in women’s tennis.”

Americans sixth seed Amanda Anisimova and fourth seed Coco Gauff will play their fourth-round matches on Monday.

Another Alcaraz coming

*Don’t look now but Carlos Alcaraz’s 14-year-old brother Jaime won the Murcia Challenger Sub-15 Tour this week. In his hometown tournament, he defeated fellow Spaniard Rodrigo Casares, 6-1, 6-2 in the final. Jaime also thrived in the sub-12 category when he lifted the Nadal trophy, the same title Carlos had won twice. When a reporter shouted to Carlos that his brother won, he smiled and said, “Yeah, an under-15!”

*Pegula was asked if it was difficult to come up with what to write on the TV camera lens after victories. “I wrote, ‘I love Andrew Krasny’, the on-court announcer. “He gave me the idea yesterday and I told him I’d do it if I won, so I did. He wanted to see if they could take the lens out [for a souvenir].”

*Alexandra Eala attended the Heat-Lakers game Thursday night and she “reconnected” with fellow Filipino, Heat coach Eric Spoelstra, who attended her quarterfinal victory over Iga Swiatek here last year. “He’s such an icon and has achieved so much,’’ Eala said.

*Alejandro Tabilo stunned 15^th-seed Andre Rublev, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 in front of a raucous group of his Chilean fans on intimate Court 7 Saturday. Somehow Rublev lost despite super-impressive stats, including 15 aces, 83 percent of first serves won, 37 winners, and 13 of 16 points won at the net.

*Sinner’s win over Dzumhur on Saturday ran his record against players ranked outside the Top 20 to 100-2 since the 2023 US Open. His only losses came to then-No. 45 Alexander Bublik in 2025 Halle and No. 31 Tallon Griekspoor in Shanghai.

*Pegula, not known for her radar-breaking serves, smiled when she was told she was ranked fifth in aces this year behind big bombers like Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka. “I’m not sure how long that stat is going to live,’’ Pegula said. “So, I need to screenshot it.”

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