The busy days just keep on coming at the Miami Open. A real treat for those hardcore tennis fans with multi-screen capabilities as there are some really attractive looking matches all over the order of play for Day Three. This article previews four of those matches.
We also have predictions for the rest of the Day 3 matches, across three other articles. One features Kirsten Flipkens vs Jelena Ostapenko, Aryna Sabalenka vs Tsvetana Pironkova, and the last features Coco Gauff vs Anastasija Sevastova.
WTA Miami Open Day 3 Predictions
Ekaterina Alexandrova vs Nadia Podoroska
The Russian is a deserving favorite for this match despite some rocky recent form. The Argentine has achieved a high ranking off the back of a remarkable winning sequence last season that took her all the way to the Roland Garros semifinals. However, that 19-match streak was all on clay and while Podoroska isn’t terrible on a hard court, Alexandrova is probably superior on this surface. Add in the fact that the pair met on an indoor hard court in Linz last year and Alexandrova lost only three games, and the case for a Russian victory is fairly convincing.
Prediction: Alexandrova in 2
Magda Linette vs Johanna Konta
There are many similarities when comparing this pair’s recent records. Both are struggling around 50% win rate over the last twelve months and both had lost in their opening matches in the previous two tournaments. Linette broke that with a win over wildcard Robin Montgomery in the first round here and maybe that will give her a lift. Konta had an unfortunate retirement at the Australian Open and seemed to suffer a hangover from that as she was beaten soundly the week after. However, there has been time to recover from that and she will have good memories of her title win here in 2017. This would be a good time to recover some form and I am backing the Brit to win here.
Prediction: Konta in 3
Marketa Vondrousova vs Qiang Wang
The 2019 French Open finalist hasn’t yet managed to return to that kind of form since that run. However, this should be a kind matchup for her. Wang had a similarly exciting run of form in 2019 but has yet to discover that magic, winning only three matches of ten in the last twelve months. Despite the fact that Vondrousova would perhaps feel more confident on clay her hard-court game should still be strong enough to enable her to win here.
Prediction: Vondrousova in 2
Simona Halep vs Caroline Garcia
Two high-quality players here but it would be a surprise if the Romanian couldn’t see off the French challenge here. Halep leads the career series 6-1, 3-1 on a hard court. In addition to this Garcia has lost nine out of her last ten against top ten ranked opponents, whilst Halep is on a nine-match winning streak at this level having won WTA1000 tournaments in Rome and Dubai in 2020. The movement and tenacity of Halep are what should see the second seed through to the next round.
Prediction: Halep in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
