Plenty of title favorites were eliminated in the second round of the 2022 WTA Miami Open. The top half isn’t completely up for grabs, but has definitely become much more open. Can Naomi Osaka step up and have her first deep run in a while? Who do you think will advance a step further?
WTA Miami Day 5 Predictions
Irina-Camelia Begu vs Aliaksandra Sasnovich
Head-to-head: Begu 3-0
Aliaksandra Sasnovich has been going a bit under the radar, but the Belarusian is currently 14-5 for the season. She’s coming off a very good win against Daria Kasatkina, but it’s Irina-Camelia Begu who made the bigger upset in round two, taking out Aryna Sabalenka. That should give her plenty of confidence for this one, especially coupled with the head-to-head lead, which includes two meetings last year. The sample size is still rather small though and Sasnovich has long been an underrated player. In good form, she’s capable of getting her first win against Begu.
Prediction: Sasnovich in 3
Ann Li vs Alison Riske
Head-to-head: 1-1
This one seems quite tough to predict with Alison Riske seemingly picking up some form during the Sunshine Double, while Ann Li is coming off a brilliant win over Anett Kontaveit. Both haven’t been too consistent in their results lately, but on very short-term form, Riske truly seems to have found a breakthrough at Indian Wells. Li hasn’t won a match in straight sets since Melbourne and even when coming out on top, has had some rough patches. If Riske can tune in her powerful groundstrokes, she should be able to take this.
Prediction: Riske in 3
Belinda Bencic vs Heather Watson
Head-to-head: Watson 1-0
Heather Watson won their sole head-to-head meeting at Indian Wells eight years ago, while Belinda Bencic took revenge in an unofficial match at Hopman Cup. The Swiss was about to turn 16 when they played their only professional match and eight years later finds herself much more accomplished than her opponent. Is she in great form right now? Not really, but her baseline game is more threatening than Watson’s and the Brit might come up short in finding ways to win the points.
Prediction: Bencic in 2
Naomi Osaka vs Karolina Muchova
Head-to-head: 1-1
As Indian Wells showed, Naomi Osaka is still very fragile mentally and that might not allow her to play her best. However, it was tough not to gain some belief in her after the beautiful display to beat Angelique Kerber in the second round here. The talent is still there and with Karolina Muchova playing her first tournament since the US Open last year, the Czech is not much of a certainty in terms of delivering either. Anything can happen here, but Osaka’s level in her last match was just that convincing.
Prediction: Osaka in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
