WTA Miami Open 2021: Women’s draw Preview, Analysis and Prediction

WTA Miami Open 2021: Women’s draw Preview, Analysis and Prediction

Garbine Muguruza Petra Kvitova Naomi Osaka

Miami Open, a WTA 1000 event will be held from March 23- April 3rd in the city of Miami in Florida, USA. The tournament will be played on hard courts and the likes of  Ash Barty, Naomi Osaka, Sofia Kenin, Petra Kvitova, and Garbine Muguruza will all be part of the main draw. Other noteworthy players are Jessica Pegula and Jennifer Brady. 

Defending Champion Ash Barty is returning from some time off and it will be interesting to see how she fares. Naomi Osaka the Australian Open 2021 is the main attraction of the event. 

Tournament Details:

  • Tournament: WTA Miami Open 2021
  • Date: March 23 to April 3rd, 2021
  • Number of Entrants: 128 (Singles), 32(Doubles)  
  • Venue: Miami, Florida 
  • Surface: Hard Court
  • Prize Money: $3,260,190 
  • Defending champion: Ash Barty

       Top Seeds at the ATP Buenos Aires 2021

  • Ash Barty (Australia)
  • Naomi Osaka (Japan)
  • Sofia Kenin (USA)
  • Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic)
  • Garbine Muguruza(Spain)

Women’s Draw Prediction and Analysis

Top Half

Petra Kvitova
Petra Kvitova

The top half of the draw includes the likes of top seed and defending Champion Australia’s Ash Barty, returning to the tour is third seed Simona Halep, Gen Y representative the seventh seed Aryna Sabalenka and the ever dangerous ninth seed from Czech Republic Petra Kvitova who recently won the Qatar Open. The top seed has received a bye in the first round but will be tested against fourteenth seed Victoria Azarenka in the fourth round.

FS Video

Victoria Azarenka has proven credentials on hard courts, and has won this tournament thrice before. But with a back injury that is only a couple of weeks old, it will be difficult for her to overcome Barty. Aryna Sabalenka is expected to beat Ash Barty in the first Quarter Finals.

Another interesting fourth round match will be between Simona Halep and Iga Swiatek. Halep should win that match and set up a Quarterfinal, second, meeting Petra Kvitova. Sabalenka should win the first Quarter Final and Kvitova should win the second.

First Semifinal Prediction:  Aryna Sabalenka vs Petra Kvitova 

Bottom Half

Jennifer Brady
Jennifer Brady

The bottom half of the draw has no dearth of talent either. It is led by second seed and defending Australian Open Champion Naomi Osaka, fourth seed Sofia Kenin, Eighth seed Bianca Andreescu, the Dubai Open Champion and twelfth seed Garbine Muguruza, and last but not the least the two Americans Jessica Pegula and Jennifer Brady. One of the key matches will be Garbine Muguruza vs Bianca Andreescu.

Muguruza is expected to win this. Jennifer Brady who is one of the new talents of the women’s game will face the fourth seed Sofia Kenin, in the fourth round, Brady should get the better of Kenin in this one. The third Quarterfinal will be played between Muguruza and Brady.

In the bottom half there is one player who is the favourite for this tournament, that is Naomi Osaka who is expected to face off against Jessica Pegula in the Quarterfinals. Once she overcomes that challenge, she will face Muguruza in the second Semifinal. 

Second Semifinal Prediction: Garbine Muguruza vs Naomi Osaka 

Semifinals

Garbine Muguruza
Garbine Muguruza

The first Semi Final will feature Aryna Sabalenka and Petra Kvitova. Kvitova knows how to win big matches and big tournaments. If she can stay fit, she is the favourite to win this contest. 

The second Semifinal stars Garbine Muguruza and Naomi Osaka. The last time these two players met, Muguruza had match points against Osaka which she couldn’t convert and ended up losing in three sets. Both players are in great form and it should be a great game of tennis. Osaka though should prevail. 

Final Prediction: Petra Kvitova vs Naomi Osaka 

Final

Naomi Osaka
Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka comes into this tournament seeded second but she is the favourite to win this trophy. The defending champion from the US Open and the Australian Open champion should overcome Petra Kvitova and lift her first Miami Open Trophy. 

To Lift the Title: Naomi Osaka. 

Also Read: Serena Williams becomes the latest star to withdraw from the Miami Open 2021