Venus Williams advance at Miami Open from buzai232's blog

Sloane Stephens' loudest fan kept shouting advice and encouragement from the upper deck Monday, perhaps providing the nudge she needed to shake a post-US Open slump.To get more soccer news, you can visit shine news official website. Stephens earned her biggest victory since winning last year's Open, beating No. 3-ranked Garbine Muguruza 6-3, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals at the Miami Open.

"Keep it in the court, girl -- that's all you've got to do!" the spectator hollered, and Stephens did. During a postmatch on-court interview, Stephens thanked the fan, who has attended her past two matches.I have no idea who that is," she said later. "Day before yesterday was the first time I'd ever seen him. But it's entertaining. Obviously he knows tennis -- he was shouting all the right things."

The fan might have picked a good time to jump on the Stephens bandwagon. She'll next face Angelique Kerber with a shot at reaching the Miami Open semifinals for the first time.Victoria Azarenka, another three-time champion, swept 2012 champ Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-2. Stephens claimed her first major title in New York in September and is ranked 12th, but she arrived at Key Biscayne with a record of only 3-4 this year. "After winning a Grand Slam, it's not easy to come back right out and keep playing," Stephens said. "I was so excited after winning the US Open, I was living my life to the fullest. Now I'm back to my day job. It's a little bit difficult. It takes a little bit of confidence and a lot of hard work."

On the men's side, qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis lost in the follow-up to his upset of Roger Federer in the second round. Fernando Verdasco rallied from two mini-breaks down in the decisive tiebreaker and beat Kokkinakis 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4).Stephens won with typically dogged defense, and by attacking Muguruza's weak second serve.

The Spaniard has been battling a slump herself, falling to 8-6 in 2018. "I missed too many shots, a couple of mistakes I shouldn't have done in important moments," said Muguruza, the 2017 Wimbledon champion. "My serve in general could be better. It was not a big difference, but in the end a few details went to her side."Stephens started the year by losing her opening match in consecutive tournaments, including the Australian Open. She then spent more than a month away from the tour, but said she was no longer celebrating her US Open title.