The Miami Open tennis tournament moves into the third round, as the field of 32 players chases a big opportunity with so many top players (Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova, Petra Kvitova) all out of the event. Looking back to Friday to recap our tennis picks, it was a productive day as we went 2-1. We had Simona Halep and while she had some trouble with Naomi Osaka, she managed to outlast her in three sets. We also had Angelique Kerber, who had few problems getting past Yingying Duan. She beat her in straight sets. Our lone loss of the day was Ashleigh Barty, who couldn’t get the job done against Sam Stosur. Let’s see if we can have a similarly successful day with our tennis picks on Saturday.
Garbine Muguruza vs. Shuai Zhang
Christina McHale served twice for the match and even held a match point in the second-set tiebreaker but somehow Garbine Muguruza survived the scare. In the extraordinary turn of fortunes, the Spaniard rallied back to win in a rain affected contest lasting two hours and 24 minutes.
Not only will Muguruza be relieved she came out unscathed, but she also will feel super confident ahead of her third-round clash with Shuai Zhang. On the other hand, the Tianjin native Zhang won’t feel any different. Even the 33rd ranked Chinese had to go the extra mile to get the win. Zhang was two breaks and 2-5, 30-40 down in the decider, but stormed back to save a match point of her own and steal the win from Sara Errani in a marathon two-hour, 45-minute display.
With both players bolstered ahead of their clash, it promises to be a tasty encounter. However, if one had to choose between the two, you wouldn’t want to bet against the French Open champion after that kind of a win in the second round. She’s the better choice for your tennis picks.
Pick: Muguruza in straight sets
Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni
In the deciding third set of her second round match, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni was trailing 1-5 and looked down and out against Kateryna Bondarenko. but as she often does, she persevered and won. It’s her first win in Miami since reaching the third round in 1999.
Next, Lucic-Baroni will play Agnieszka Radwanska, whom she handsomely defeated during her inspiring run in Melbourne (to the semifinals) this year. The courts in Miami aren’t as fast, and Lucic-Baroni will have to work harder against Radwanska’s steady defense. However, she has enough firepower and nothing to lose. She plays high risk tennis. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn’t. It doesn’t bother her. Lucic-Baroni is going to come out swinging from ball one against Radwanska and it’ll take some stopping.
Radwanska is the fifth seed but doesn’t have that intimidating aura a fifth seed sometimes brings to the court. The Pole is a woeful 8-6 this season and her last two defeats have come against lowly ranked Shuai Peng and CiCi Bellis. Given how she has fared so far this year, she is in deep trouble against Lucic-Baroni.
Pick: Lucic-Baroni in three sets
Caroline Wozniacki vs. Sorana Cirstea
Sorana Cirstea was once ranked as high as No. 21 in the world. In 2015, she fell outside the top 200 after a shoulder injury kept her out of the game. The Romanian was in fine form in Melbourne, where she made the second week before losing to Garbine Muguruza in the fourth round. Cirstea is looking good this week in Miami, where she has backed up her win over Monica Puig (world No. 40) with another big scalp of Anastasija Sevastova (world No. 25) in the second round. However, the third round won’t be easy, as she faces an in-form Caroline Wozniacki on Saturday.
Wozniacki has had a very good 2017 so far but failed to bring home a trophy. Now, with great friend and rival Serena Williams absent and Angelique Kerber not in the best of form, she has to fancy her chances. In her opening match in Miami, Wozniacki destroyed Varvara Lepchenko in just 65 minutes as if to signal she is ready to win big titles. Cirstea has beaten her before but on current form, it makes sense to back Wozniacki to come through. We’ll go with her for our tennis picks.
Pick: Wozniacki in three sets
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