Miami Open: Johanna Konta through & Rafael Nadal plays 1,000th Tour match

Johanna KontaImage source, Getty Images
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Konta reached the quarter-finals in Miami last year

Britain's Johanna Konta rediscovered her best form as she thrashed Pauline Parmentier of France in straight sets to reach round four at the Miami Open.

Konta, seeded 10th, took charge from midway through the first set to win 6-4 6-0 in 63 minutes.

She next faces Lara Arruabarrena in the last 16 after the Spaniard upset eighth seed Madison Keys 7-5 7-5.

Rafael Nadal celebrated his 1,000th Tour match with a 0-6 6-2 6-3 victory over German Philipp Kohlschreiber.

In the men's doubles, Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares beat Paolo Lorenzi and Joao Sousa 6-0 6-3 in round two.

Strong showing from Konta

Image source, AP
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Johanna Konta reached the quarter-finals of this year's Australian Open

Konta, 25, had struggled for form since reaching the Australian Open quarter-finals in January, and had needed two hours and 40 minutes to beat qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich in her opening match in Miami.

In less windy conditions on Sunday, the British number one found the rhythm on both serve and return that has seen her rise dramatically up the rankings in the last two years.

"I'm happy to have come through that," Konta said., external

"Although the scoreline doesn't show it in the second set, I still had to work hard within every single point. I really tried hard not to take my foot off the gas and stay focused on what I wanted to achieve."

The first six games went with serve as Parmentier's big serve kept her in touch, but when Konta converted her third break point for a 4-3 lead it sparked a brilliant burst of form from the Briton.

Konta dropped just five points in the second set, and only seven points on serve in the entire match, as she powered through.

She is now one win from at least matching last year's run to the quarter-finals, where she lost to Victoria Azarenka.

World number one Angelique Kerber came back from a break down in each set to beat American Shelby Rogers 6-4 7-5.

The German will next play Japanese qualifier Risa Ozaki, after the world number 87 saw off Kerber's compatriot Julia Goerges 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.

Nadal comes back from first-set loss

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Rafael Nadal reached his first Grand Slam final in three years in Australia this year

World number 31 Kohlschreiber was superb as he took his first set against Spaniard Nadal to love in just 21 minutes.

It was the first time Nadal had failed to win a game in the first set of an ATP Tour match since 2008 but the 30-year-old produced a typically gutsy comeback to claim his 822nd career victory.

He becomes the 11th player to compete in 1,000 Tour matches - a group led by American Jimmy Connors (1,535).

"One thousand matches is a lot of matches. Obviously that's good news because that says I am having a long career," said 14-time Grand Slam champion Nadal.

"During a lot of years, I heard that I'm going to have a short career, so it's something important for me. I remember the first match very well because it was at home in Mallorca. It was my first victory on the ATP and was a great feeling."

In the men's singles, second seed Kei Nishikori of Japan beat Spanish 25th seed Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (7-2) 6-7 (5-7) 6-1.

Canada's third seed Milos Raonic withdrew before his match against American Jared Donaldson with a recurrence of a hamstring injury, saying: "It was not possible to compete today without putting myself at significant risk."

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