By Tony Fairbairn
- Coco Gauff [3] v Maria Sakkari [28]
- Holger Rune [11] v Reilly Opelka
- Jasmine Paolini [6] v Ons Jabeur [31]
MIAMI, USA – Maria Sakkari has revenge on her mind when she takes on Coco Gauff in a rematch of their Indian Wells match.
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Coco Gauff [3] v Maria Sakkari [28] H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Coco Gauff [3] v Maria Sakkari [28] | H2H: Sakkari leads 5-4 |
| Miami Open 2025 | Miami, USA |
| Hard (O) | Prize Money: $60,400 |
| Third on Stadium (19:30 GMT) | Sky/Now TV <- Subscription Required |
It’s a big week for Coco Gauff as the American has been severely lacking in form and confidence recently. However the third seed will be satisfied with her drubbing of Sofia Kenin in the previous round as she searches for some kind of momentum heading into the clay court season. The question is whether Gauff can be consistent enough in the big moments? This is as Gauff’s regularity of masses amount of unforced errors will be of big concern especially in matches where she should be winning comfortably.
Next up for Gauff is Maria Sakkari in a rematch of their Indian Wells clash which Gauff won fairly comfortably. The Greek has also been struggling for form and confidence as she now finds herself in a position where she is outside the world’s top 50 in the world for the first time in a long time. Now with Sakkari struggling to win matches that she should be cruising through, the Greek now hopes to prove a point with an important part of the season approaching for the former Roland Garros semi-finalist.
Gauff will hope to remain consistent with her controlled aggression, using the forehand to dictate play from the baseline. Meanwhile Sakkari will use the backhand to create depth while remaining controlled on return. This will be a scrappy match with both players lacking confidence but the American should have too much quality in this third round contest.
Prediction: Gauff in straight sets.
Holger Rune [11] v Reilly Opelka H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Holger Rune [11] v Reilly Opelka | H2H: First Meeting |
| Miami Open 2025 | Miami, USA |
| Hard (O) | Prize Money: $35,260 |
| Third on Court One (18:00 GMT) | Sky/Now TV <- Subscription Required |
After an inconsistent year, a run to the final at Indian Wells would have done Holger Rune the world of good for his confidence. The Dane played some impressive tennis and beat some good players but will now hope to keep that up as consistency has been a big problem for Rune. Another great tournament over the next ten days will mean Rune will start challenging for a place in the world’s top ten ahead of his favourite time of year in Europe.
First up for Rune is big-serving American Reilly Opelka. The 27 year-old had a great start to the season, beating Novak Djokovic on his way to the final in Brisbane. However, since then Opelka’s form has dipped as he has been unable to maintain consistency on the tour. Now Opelka aims for a deep run at a big event as he targets a place in the world’s top 100 ahead of the clay court season.
Rune will use the forehand to keep Opelka moving as he will implement drop shots to keep the American guessing. Opelka will be consistently aggressive on serve as he aims to neutralise Rune’s efficiency on return. This will be a tough match for Rune but the Dane’s confidence should edge him to a testing opening round win.
Prediction: Rune in three sets.
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Jasmine Paolini [6] v Ons Jabeur [31] H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Jasmine Paolini [6] v Ons Jabeur [31] | H2H: Jabeur leads 2-1 |
| Miami Open 2025 | Miami, USA |
| Hard (O) | Prize Money: $60,400 |
| First on Grandstand (15:00 GMT) | Sky/Now TV <- Subscription Required |
It was a phenomenal 2024 season for Jasmine Paolini who reached two Grand Slam finals but the Italian is now finding out the brutal reality of having to match her high expectations. The sixth seed has had an underwhelming start to the season and needs to find her form quickly as she has lots of points to defend over the next couple of months. A deep run in Miami would be just the cure for Paolini’s wounds in what is a big opportunity this week to make up some ground.
Next up for Paolini is another former Grand Slam finalist in the form of Tunisian Ons Jabeur. The world number 30 is starting to pick up some good results after a torrid time with his injuries as it is now or never in her bid to win a Grand Slam title. There is still a market for a crafty yet powerful player from the baseline with competent net skills and Jabeur will need to find a way to boost her stock if she wants to get the most of the latter stages of her career.
Paolini will look to be powerful from the baseline, using the forehand to dictate play and extract errors from Jabeur. Meanwhile the mixture of slice and power will look to do the job for the Tunisian as she will need to have a good serving day. This will be a tight contest with both players needing a win and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Jabeur pull of a big win in her season.
Prediction: Jabeur in three sets.
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