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MIAMI, FL, USA – A former World No.21 and perennial doubles threat, Elena Vesnina needed to fight through qualifying just to reach the main draw of the Miami Open, but the veteran Russian caused one of the biggest shake-ups of the event thus far, outsteadying No.10 seed and former No.1 Venus Williams, 6-0, 6-7(5), 6-2.

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“That was a great match, great fight,” she told Andrew Krasny during her on-court interview. “It’s always an honor to play against Venus. She’s a great champion. We played many times against each other and it’s always been a pleasure to play her and it’s always been a tough match-up.

“I’m really happy that I won today.”

Far from the typical underdog, Vesnina came into the match with a solid week at the Qatar Total Open – where she earned back-to-back wins over Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki and ended Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza’s 41-match winning streak in doubles – and an even head-to-head against the illustrious American. Landing 74% of her first serves to start, she took advantage of a flat opponent to race through the opening set without losing a game.

“I honestly was a little bit shocked after the first set, thinking, ‘Ok, what’s going on?'”

The second set was a more even affair; though Vesnina took what appeared to be a decisive break in the seventh game, Venus broke back at the eleventh hour, saving a match point on the Russian’s serve at 5-4.

“Even when I was up 5-3, I felt Venus was playing better and better and she raised her level up.”

Pushing the second set into a tie-break, the momentum swung back and forth before Venus swept the final two points, ensuring that the crowd would see a final set.

“She was serving incredibly; on the tie-break she played at a very high level of tennis.”

Undaunted – and perhaps aware that she won their only prior three-set match at the Western & Southern Open back in 2013 – Vesnina raced out to another 3-0 lead; though Venus pegged her back to within a game of level terms, the reigning Australian Open mixed doubles champion ultimately hit more winners (35 to 28) and fewer errors (35 to 39) to clinch the victory.

“Even though I lost the second set, I still believed in myself, and I knew everything could happen. It was a pleasure to play on this center court.”

Up next for Vesnina is No.24 seed and Australian Open semifinalist Johanna Konta, who defeated Danka Kovinic, 6-4, 6-2. With No.6 seed Carla Suárez Navarro out at the hands of American CoCo Vandeweghe, the highest seed left in this quarter of the draw is BNP Paribas Open champion Victoria Azarenka, who is ranked in the Top 10 but seeded No.13.

Vesnina is also in the doubles draw, set to play her first round with 18-year-old Daria Kasatkina, with whom she ended the Santina Streak. Kasatkina started the year with a win over the elder of the Williams sisters at the ASB Classic, and could be seen supporting her partner from the stands.

“She told me a couple of things before the match, but she said, ‘That’s Venus; you have to expect everything,'” Vesnina said when asked whether her countrywoman had given her any advice. “It was great to have her in my player box alongside my husband and my dad.

“The center court atmosphere was really amazing. Even though I felt like Venus was the favorite and everyone really wanted her to win, there will still some people cheering for me, so that was really nice. It’s great when you can have a big team behind you, supporting you and believing in you.”

MIAMI, FL ,USA – Three of the top five seeds at the Miami Open will be in action on a busy Saturday at Crandon Park. We preview the must-see match-ups here.

Saturday, Third Round

Stadium
[3] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL #2) vs. Madison Brengle (USA #60)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Radwanska leads the WTA in match wins in 2016 with 18.
Agnieszka Radwanska, the 2012 Miami Open champion, was flawless in her second-round trouncing of France’s Alizé Cornet, and that’s pretty much been the case for the Pole in all her early-round matches in 2016. The WTA’s match win leader has reached the semifinals at each event she has played this year and she’ll look to maintain this consistency against Delaware’s Madison Brengle. Brengle backed up her first-round win over Italy’s Camila Giorgi by notching a 7-5, 6-4 win over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova on Thursday to reach the third round at the Miami Open for the first time. “I think we’ve never played before so that’s always a challenge,” Radwanska said when asked about facing 25-year-old Brengle for the first time. “I saw a bit of her matches this year and last year – a couple of good results for her.” Brengle has indeed developed into a solid WTA-level player over the past 12 months, but she’s struggled to make ends meet against the tour’s top dogs, going just 3-17 lifetime against the Top 20.

Pick: Radwanska in two

[1] Serena Williams (USA #1) vs. Zarina Diyas (KAZ #97)
Head-to-head: Williams leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Williams dropped just two games in the pair’s one and only encounter.
Serena Williams found herself in a spot of trouble in the second round on Thursday, but the World No.1 managed to gut out the win against Christina McHale in three tough sets. Adjusting to the slower conditions in Miami after two weeks in the California desert is never easy, but with a hard-fought win under her belt Williams should be better acclimated when she takes on Zarina Diyas on Saturday. Diyas upset Daria Gavrilova in straight sets on Thursday, and has dropped just nine games in her first two matches this week, but in order to keep up the pace the 22-year-old will have to find a way to flummox the best player in the history of this tournament. Williams owns a 65-5 career record at Miami, and has a knack for getting better as the tournament progresses.

Pick: Williams in two

Grandstand
[8] Petra Kvitova (CZE #7) vs. [30] Ekaterina Makarova (RUS #31)
Head-to-head: Kvitova leads, 4-2
Key Stat: Kvitova made her best result in Miami in 2014 when she reached the quarterfinals.
After a poor start to 2016 is Petra Kvitova finally hitting her stride stateside? The World No.7 has claimed four of five matches since starting the season at a 2-6 clip, and she’ll search for one of the biggest wins of her season against a proven entity in Ekaterina Makarova. While Kvitova is finding her form, her fellow southpaw from Russia seems to be headed in the opposite direction. Makarova has gone just 2-5 since reaching the round of 16 at the Australian Open, with four of those losses coming in straight sets. When it comes to performing in Miami, however, Makarova has been steady in the past. The Russian has reached the round of 16 in three of the last four years here, while Kvitova has only been past the third round once in Miami.

Pick: Kvitova in three

[16] Ana Ivanovic (SRB #17) vs. [19] Timea Bacsinszky (SUI #20)
Head-to-head: Ivanovic leads, 2-1
Key Stat: Ivanovic had reached the round of 16 here four years running before losing to Sabine Lisicki in the third round last year.
Both Ana Ivanovic and Timea Bacsinszky are searching for character wins to build on in 2016, and their fourth career battle could be the perfect psychological tonic for Saturday’s eventual winner. Ivanovic and Bacsinszky have combined to go 1-6 against the Top 20 thus far this season, but the winner of this match will surely benefit from a bit of confidence that could spark the beginning of a deep run. The Serb leads the pair’s head-to-head by 2-1, but two of their three encounters have gone the distance. Bacsinszky has done a nice job of turning her season around in the last month. The Swiss has won five of seven after stumbling out of the gates to a 1-6 start. Will it be blossoming Bacsinszky who emerges, or will Ivanovic punch her ticket to the round of 16 with a much-needed win?

Pick: Ivanovic in three

Around the grounds…
Elina Svitolina and Caroline Wozniacki will meet for the first time on Saturday. Wozniacki has lost five of her last six matchups against Top 20 players, dating back to Wimbledon last year. Elsewhere, last year’s semifinalist Simona Halep will square off with Julia Goerges, and Svetlana Kuznetsova faces the gifted Caroline Garcia.

-Chris Oddo, wtatennis.com contributor

Victoria Azarenka was the story of 2016’s first quarter. The two-time major champion and former World No.1 rocketed back up the rankings after several seasons of injuries and inconsistencies, winning three titles and becoming the first woman in over a decade to capture the elusive Indian Wells-Miami “Sunshine” Double.

By spring, however, the Belarusian was gone from the game, announcing that she would end her season due to a pregnancy. Azarenka has since been busy preparing for the birth of her first child, but nonetheless granted an interview with Tennis Channel to update fans on her life today.

“My pregnancy’s been a completely different experience from anything I’ve done before,” she says. “In theory, you know the process, but to actually go through it, you truly start to deeply understand the magic of it. It’s been quite a ride, I have to say.

“Tennis is my career, but there’s a different part of life. This was a blessing, a gift from God. I believe I still have a great opportunity to do what I love, as long as I love playing tennis. I do, and this is an opportunity to realize how much I love what I do.”

Azarenka has dedicated her time off to her studies, but has still found time to exercise, playing tennis up to the last six weeks of her pregnancy.

“I’m doing a lot of activities I didn’t have time to do before; being at home and sleeping in my own bed is really a luxury for a traveling athlete.

“I miss the fans. I miss that moment when you go on the court and it’s a go time. As a competitor, I have to find that edge in life. I’ve been able to translate that into my studies for now, but that competitive edge is definitely something I’m missing.”

Addressing the question of a comeback, she gave fans reason to be optimistic that she’ll be back on the court sooner, rather than later.

“I don’t feel I’m missing out on someting I won’t be able to do again. For me, it’s about getting to where I want to be and be back there again. That’s my ultimate goal.

“I don’t put any time frame on myself. I would love to make it as soon as possible, but give myself a reasonable time to fully recover and be ready. I’m not going to rush anything, and it’s hard to tell before the birth actually happens. So, we’ll see, but I’m confident that I’ll be able to play tennis again pretty soon.”

Check out the whole video courtesy of Tennis Channel below:

Lucie Safarova had much to overcome off the court this season, recovering from an illness that derailed her soaring start to last season and fighting off injuries that delayed her 2016 debut. But once she got going, she showed what made her such a dangerous opponent, particularly in doubles, where she won another major title with Bethanie Mattek-Sands at the US Open, and rode an 18-match winning streak into the final of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. Through all of her trials and tribulations,the Czech always finds time to give back to the player community.

As a result of her work in the WTA Player Council, Safarova was awarded the 2016 Peachy Kellmeyer Player Service Award for the third year in a row.

Selected by player vote, the Player Service Award is awarded each year to the player who has done the most for her fellow players. The player can be acknowledged for their efforts made through the Player Council or any other initiative on behalf of the general player population. This award has been voted on by players since 1977. Previous winners include Kim Clijsters, Liezel Huber, Francesca Schiavone, Pam Shriver and Venus Williams.

The Players’ Council consists of eight selected players on the tour that advocate player interests and handle grievances, changes in the tennis schedule and other concerns. Safarova is a part of the council in the 1-20 Ranking Category, alongside Samantha Stosur, Serena Williams and Venus Williams. She’s served on the Council since 2009, earning the respect of her peers through her willingness to help.

In a one-hour interview that aired on ESPN on Sunday, 22-time major champion Serena Williams sat down with rapper and good friend Common, for a wide-ranging discussion touching on race, gender, her impact on both society and sport, and why she should always be in the conversation as one of the greatest athletes of all time.

“I think if I were a man, I would have been in that conversation a long, long time ago,” Serena said. “Like six, seven or eight years ago.”

“Any kind of man. White, black, it doesn’t matter. If I was a man it would have been a different conversation a long time ago. I think being a woman is a whole new set of problems from society that you have to deal with.”

Five more insightful moments from Serena’s wide-ranging interview:

On whether she ever felt misunderstood:

“I feel like in the beginning of this journey I was definitely misunderstood. You never saw anything like me or Venus in my field of work, in tennis. We may have said some things that people just couldn’t relate to.”

“Growing up and playing these tournaments when I was younger, I didn’t really see many people that were my color. I was black. So I think I just got used to it. So when you go to Russia or a lot of these countries, you just really stick out.

“But I like to stick out. One thing about me — I don’t want to be everyone else. If everyone is doing something I’m probably going to try it a different way. I just like to be different. I don’t like to fit a mold.”

On being taught to believe in herself:

“If I was playing the No.1 player and I was like ‘Yeah, I think I can be the best, I think can be better than her’ they were like ‘She’s so rude, she’s so disrespectful.’ I never meant anything in disrespect.

“My dad always taught me, if you want to do something you write it down, you believe it, you study it, and then you believe that it’s going to happen. So I believed that I was going to be No.1. I believed that I could be better than who was No.1 at that point.”

On becoming more of a vocal activist for black issues over recent years:

“I was at Wimbledon this year and someone got killed [back home in America] and I was just over it. I’m trying to play a semifinal and I turn on the news and look through social media and it hurts me because they’re my people who are being killed. They look like me. Who’s to say I’m not next? It hurts. It really hurts.”

In London I have to wake up to this. He was black. Shot 4 times? When will something be done- no REALLY be done?!?! pic.twitter.com/OaLn60G6nm

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) July 7, 2016

On body image:

“There was a time where I didn’t feel incredibly comfortable about my body because I felt like I was too strong. But then I had to take a second and think ‘Well who says I’m too strong?’ This body has enabled me to be the greatest player I can be. I’m not going to scrutinize that! This is great! This is amazing! Now my body is in style so I’m feeling good about it. I’m finally in style! Took a while to get there.”

On her legacy:

“We literally took the globe and shook it, me and Venus because we came from Compton, we came from nothing. In tennis you have to have something. We came and we conquered. And I shouldn’t have to apologize for saying and believing that I can be the best.”

Watch the entire interview at The Undefeated.

With the @AustralianOpen quickly approaching, @serenawilliams turns up the training intensity in Florida. ? #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/xoLjI6FhG9

— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) December 16, 2016

Serena is set to kick off her 2017 season at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, which begins on January 2nd.