After a hectic Indian Wells where the champion is yet to be known, women’s tennis travels to Florida to play the second WTA 1000 of this month of March. When starting this Sunshine Double, Every Swiatek seemed the clear favorite to do a double, but the physical discomfort added to the good level of players like Aryna SabalenkaElena Rybakina, Barbora Krejcikova or Jessica Pegula make the Miami Open do not have a single candidate as for example happened last season. Nor should players like Paula Badosa or Coco Gauff be ruled out, who have a good draw to reach the last rounds and who are also tennis players who, when they gain confidence, can beat anyone. In fact, both offered a good level of play in the Californian desert. and now they will try to take advantage of this opportunity to fight for this title that will end the first hard court tour of the year.
Analysis of the women’s draw of the WTA 1000 Miami Open 2022
1st Quadrant
Potential rivals of Iga Swiatek: Bye – Liu/Siniakova – Kovinic/Trevisan – Ostapenko/Haddad Maia – Rybakina/Kasatkina – Gauff/Pegula -Sabalenka/Sakkari/Jabeur
The current number 1 will have a complicated draw from practically the start of the tournament. Swiatek, who is defending the title, has been paired with great players in the first quadrant. Despite having an affordable second and third round, from that moment his draw will be a road full of mines, since in this first key there are big hitters like Ostapenkos and Haddad Maia, who due to their style of play should be more dangerous on these tracks from Miami -somewhat faster than Indian Wells- and who are also precisely the type of players that the Polish tennis player is choking on. Already in the quarterfinals Elena Rybakina appears again, who has become one of Swiatek’s black beasts having taken the measure, so she will have a very tough tournament and where we remember that she defends the thousand points achieved last season . Nor should Paula Badosa be ruled out in this part, because if she manages to beat Rybakina in the third round, she would have a very good draw to reach the quarterfinals and measure forces with Swiatek.
2nd Quadrant
Jessica Pegula potential rivals: Bye – L. Fruhvirtova – Collins – Linnete/Azarenka – Gauff/Samsonova – Rybakina/Swiatek/Badosa – Sabalenka/Sakkari/Jabeur
This second quadrant seems to be called to be the one of surprise seeing that neither Jessica Pegula nor Coco Gauff are currently giving their best level, although logically both start as favorites to meet in the quarterfinals. In addition to these players there are names like the young Linda Fruhvirtova or the veteran Victoria Azarenka who could sneak into the last rounds if they are able to perform at a good level. Qinwen Zheng or Ludmila Samsonova will also have to be taken into account, two opposite styles, but they can work very well on this type of surface.
3rd Quadrant
Potential rivals Ons Jabeur: Bye – Zanevska – Zhang- Vekic/Kvitova – Bencic/Sakkari – Sabalenka/Krejcikova – Rybakina/Swiatek
Potential rivals Maria Sakkari: Bye – Raducanu/Andreescu – Kalinina – Bencic – Kvitova/Vekic – Sabalenka/Krejcikova – Rybakina/Swiatek
If the second quadrant is that of surprise, this is undoubtedly the toughest of the entire table. The duel between Bianca Andreescu and Emma Raducanu – two Grand Slam champions – aims to be the best first-round clash. The winner of that great duel will face Maria Sakkari, who will have a very complicated second round. Her draw won’t improve after that with a possible matchup against Kalinina in the third round and Bencic in the fourth. The other side of this quadrant is somewhat more affordable, Jabeur will be the favorite there, although the bad moment she is going through opens the door for players like Vekic or Kvitova.
4th Quadrant
Potential rivals of Aryna Sabalenka: Bye – Stephens – Bouzkova – Keys/Krejcikova – Kudermetova/Pliskova/Garcia – Jabeur/Sakkari – Rybakina/Swiatek
The person who has had the most luck in this draw for the Miami Open has been Aryna Sabalenka, who, curiously, was the one who had it the hardest in Indian Wells. However, in this second WTA 1000 of the month of March, the Belarusian will open against a Stephens who cannot find her game and then in the third round she will fight against Bouzkova. Her fourth round will be more difficult -against Krejcikova-, but it should be remembered that she already defeated her last week. The quadrant would close it against Pliskova or Caroline Garcia, but the truth is that at this stage of the year neither of them is feeling comfortable and it would not be surprising if they fell at the first opportunity.
