Day 1 at the WTA 1000 event in Miami will see plenty of potentially tight and exciting matches. While the top seeds won’t be in action until Day 4, there will be plenty of great matches on show, with a great mix of young and veteran talent in sunny Miami.
WTA Miami Day 1 Predictions
Kaia Kanepi vs Maryna Zanevska
Head-to-head: Kanepi 2-1 Zanevska
Kanepi is tour veteran, but she’s never had much success in Miami, with a poor 10-11 record at this event. Zanevska won her first ever Slam match in Australia and is generally in the best period of her career and might be able to create an upset here.
Prediction: Zanevska in 3
Marta Kostyuk vs Alison Van Uytvanck
Head-to-head: first meeting
The two players are separated by exactly one spot in the WTA rankings, but Kostyuk is only trending up and should soon be ranked much higher. She’s yet to have a real run at Masters level, but this might just be the chance to do so and she starts as a favorite in this first match.
Prediction: Kostyuk in 2
Yulia Putintseva vs Nastasja Mariana Schunk
Head-to-head: first meeting
In this matchup, youth doesn’t seem to have the edge as the 18-year-old Schunk, despite being talented, doesn’t really have a lot of experience at WTA level and is unlikely to have what it takes to get through her more seasoned opponent.
Prediction: Putintseva in 3
Amanda Anisimova vs Shelby Rogers
Head-to-head: Rogers 1-0 Anisimova
It’s another match featuring two players ranked very close to each other, but with one, in this case Anisimova, being the young and up-and-coming favorite. Anisimova already has a Slam semifinal under her belt, but she has struggled at Masters level, never winning more than two matches in one event. She’ll be looking to start changing that trend here in Miami.
Prediction: Anisimova in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
