By Tony Fairbairn
- Victoria Azarenka [14] v Camila Girorgi
- Lorenzo Sonego v Dominic Thiem [WC]
- Daria Kasatkina [8] v Elise Mertens
MIAMI, USA – Victoria Azarenka and Daria Kasatkina look to overcome a dip in form as they play their opening round matches at the Miami Open.
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Victoria Azarenka [14] v Camila Giorgi H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Victoria Azarenka [14] v Camila Giorgi | H2H: Giorgi leads 2-1 |
| Miami Open 2023 | Miami, USA |
| Hard (O) | Prize Money: $30,885 |
| First night match on Grandstand Court, not before 7pm (11pm GMT) | Amazon Prime Video <– Sign up for trial |
Victoria Azarenka’s season started in fine fashion as she gained her confidence back at the Australian Open where she reached the semi-finals. However Azarenka has undergone a blip in form since then with the 14th seed suffering an early exit at Indian Wells losing to Karolina Muchova. Now Azarenka will look to get her season back on track after a few underwhelming tournaments as she looks to gain momentum before the clay court season.
However it doesn’t get any easier for Azarenka as she takes on big-hitting Italian Camila Giorgi in her Miami opener. The Italian may not be the most consistent of players on tour but when her game is firing then she can cause trouble for any opponent. A title win in Merida has given her confidence and another deep run in Miami could see her go one step closer to earning a seeding position at Roland Garros.
Giorgi will look to dominate on serve and dictate play from the baseline as she looks to use her power to make Azarenka cover a lot of ground. Meanwhile the 14th seed will look to use angles and depth to force erratic errors from Giorgi as well as producing a high level of play on return. This will be a good test to see if Azarenka can build her way into the tournament and although Giorgi has the game to nullify Azarenka, the Belarusian’s quality from the baseline and intelligence should prove too much here.
Prediction: Azarenka in three sets.
Lorenzo Sonego v Dominic Thiem [WC] H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Lorenzo Sonego v Dominic Thiem [WC] | H2H: Tied at 1-1 |
| Miami Open 2023 | Miami, USA |
| Hard (O) | Prize Money: $18,660 |
| First night match on Stadium Court, not before 7pm (11pm GMT) | Amazon Prime Video <– Sign up for trial |
Lorenzo Sonego has proven in the past that he has the ability to beat any player on any given day and actually proved that theory in Dubai when he defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime. However the Italian has been too inconsistent and often falls against players that he should be beating as his confidence seems to have disappeared. Now Sonego will look to build up that confidence as he looks to jump back inside the world’s top 50 before the clay court season.
Next for Sonego is another player who is in the need of confidence in the form of Dominic Thiem. There were signs at Indian Wells that Thiem was nearing his best tennis but the Austrian let a set and 3-0 love lead slip against Adrian Mannarino in a match where he lost in a last set tiebreak. Before Thiem gets to the European clay court season, the former US Open champion is looking to score a victory and avoid a fifth consecutive defeat in Miami.
Sonego will look to find some consistency on serve as he looks to be aggressive from the baseline. Meanwhile Thiem will look to use a variety of shots to set up effective winners on the baseline. This match will be defined by consistency on return and at the moment Sonego just edges that statistic but this will be a match full of ups and downs as both players are low in confidence in this first round match.
Prediction: Sonego in three sets.
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Daria Kasatkina [8] v Elise Mertens H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Daria Kasatkina [8] v Elise Mertens | H2H: Kasatkina leads 4-1 |
| Miami Open 2023 | Miami, USA |
| Hard (O) | Prize Money: $30,885 |
| First on Grandstand Court, at 11am (3pm GMT) | Amazon Prime Video <– Sign up for trial |
After reaching the final in Adelaide, Daria Kasatkina’s season hasn’t gone to plan with her splitting up from her coach as well as struggling for consistent wins. Adelaide was the only tournament where Kasatkina was able to record back-to-back wins this season as confidence seems to be a problem. However a good tournament in Miami and Kasatkina will know that momentum will turn her way as the clay court season is just around the corner.
A tough opening match awaits as she takes on the consistent Elise Mertens. Mertens continues to go about her business professionally beating players that her ranking suggests she should be winning against. However the Belgian will be looking for an improvement against players who are ranked above her and Mertens will look to achieve that goal, starting in Miami.
Kasatkina will look to use her slice and angles to force Mertens to play short balls which will allow the eighth seed to be aggressive, finishing off points. While the Belgian will look to be aggressive and consistent from the baseline, allowing her serve to neutralise the Kasatkina return. Despite Kasatkina’s lack in recent form, she should have the quality to limp over the finishing line.
Prediction: Kasatkina in three sets.
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