Boxing legend Mike Tyson was recently stopped by security from entering the stadium during the Miami Open quarterfinal between Victoria Azarenka and Yulia Putintseva.

The 57-year-old was in attendance at the Miami Gardens for what turned out to be a scintillating quarterfinal between Azarenka and Putintseva. The Belarusian won a tightly-contested first set via tiebreak after saving three set points.

However, Putintseva bounced back into the match and won the second set 6-1 to force a decider. Azarenka claimed the final set 6-3 to book her place in the Miami Open semifinals.

The match, had a brief moment of drama involving Mike Tyson, as the boxing great was prevented from entering the stadium mid-match by a security guard. the 57-year-old was not allowed to enter until there was a stoppage in play.

Azarenka now has a 3-0 head-to-head over Putintseva following her win in Miami. She previously beat the Kazakh in the second round of the 2021 Grampians Trophy and the first round of the 2022 Qatar Open.

The Belarusian currently has 14 wins out of 19 matches so far in the 2024 season.

Victoria Azarenka: “Very happy to go through

Victoria Azarenka said in her post-match press conference that she was very excited to win and happy to be in the business end of the Miami Open.

“Excited. Very happy with today’s win. Yeah, it’s good to be back in the later stages of the tournament, it’s what I work for, so yeah, definitely very happy to go through,” the Belarusian said.

Victoria Azarenka began her Miami Open title pursuit by edging out Peyton Stearns 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in the second round. She then followed it up by beating seventh seed Zheng Qinwen 6-3, 6-4 to reach the fourth round. Here, the Belarusian triumphed 7-5, 6-1 over 24th seed Katie Boulter before notching up her narrow win over Yulia Putintseva.

She will next face either fourth seed Elena Rybakina or eighth seed Maria Sakkari in the semifinals.

Azarenka is in her second semifinal of the 2024 season, having previously reached that stage at the Brisbane International, where she was beaten by Aryna Sabalenka. The former World No. 1 also reached the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open before being beaten by eventual champion Iga Swiatek.