Three-time Miami Open winner Victoria Azarenka battled for nearly three hours to get past a determined Yulia Putintseva and take her place in the semi-finals with a 7-6 (7/4), 1-6, 6-3 win on Tuesday. Fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina, the highest seeded player left in the tournament, held off a strong challenge from eighth-seed Maria Sakkari of Greece before emerging with a 7-5, 6-7 (4/7), 6-4 win. The 34-year-old Azarenka, who won in Miami in 2009, 2011 and 2016, had to deal not only with the spirited display from the Moscow-born Kazakh player, but also a long disruption to the match due to a technical problem.