Elena Rybakina faces Maria Sakkari and Caroline Garcia squares off against Danielle Collins in the quarter-finals of the WTA Tour’s Miami Open. Damien Kayat previews and shares his betting selections.
2024 WTA Tour – WTA 1000
Miami Open
Hard Rock Stadium
Selected Quarter-finals – Wednesday 27 March
Elena Rybakina 7/20 | Maria Sakkari 43/20
This has the makings of a potential classic. I knew that Rybakina was just feeling her way into this year’s championships. She looked imperious against Madison Keys, hitting five aces and winning 80% of her first serve points.
It was the type of forceful showing that has become synonymous with the Kazakh in recent years. When fully fit, she is probably the most feared player in women’s tennis. The 2022 Wimbledon champion and 2023 Aussie Open runner-up has become an absolute force in the women’s game.
In fact, this week marks her eighth WTA 1000 quarter-final in her last ten appearances. She won titles in Indian Wells and Rome last season and she almost captured the ‘Sunshine Double’, agonizingly falling to Petra Kvitova in the Miami final.
She injured her ankle in her Qatar Open final defeat to Swiatek earlier this season and it has taken some time for her to rediscover her optimum mobility. But something clicked against Keys and she will be feeling supremely confident of adding this Miami crown to her list of significant titles.
28-year-old Greek Maria Sakkari benefitted from a Kalinskaya withdrawal to progress to her 2nd consecutive WTA 1000 quarter-final (she lost to Swiatek in the Indian Wells final). The winner of just two titles in her career, Sakkari has really banked on consistent WTA 1000 form to keep her inside the world’s top ten.
Her Grand Slam form has really plummeted since reaching two semi-finals back in 2021. In fact, she has won just one Grand Slam match in her last four outings. But the Greek has been really metronomic at this level, notching up eight semi-finals or better since the start of 2021.
A two-time Indian Wells finalist, Sakkari ultimately won her maiden WTA 1000 title at last year’s Guadalajara Open. She has looked really focused since hiring David Witt as her new coach. The Greek is renowned for her intensity and Witt seems to balance her out with his more laidback approach.
Sakkari seems to be thriving in these quicker conditions as she looks to emulate her 2021 semi-final run here.
Verdict: Rybakina to win in straight sets at 84/100
Rybakina leads Sakkari 2-1 in their head-to-head rivalry. Rybakina won their last encounter, taking down the Greek in three tense sets at last year’s season-ending WTA Finals. Sakkari is one of the few players out there who can match Rybakina’s raw power.
But I think that Keys victory is a really ominous side for this half of the draw. The Kazakh seems to be moving much more freely and I can see her putting the Greek to the sword.
Caroline Garcia 49/100 | Danielle Collins 31/20
This is set to be an entertaining clash between two of the more unpredictable talents on the WTA Tour. 30-year-old Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia has been in pretty dreadful form this season, bringing a 3-6 record into this year’s Miami Open.
She has also been battling some shoulder issues and not many people expected her to be much of a threat in this event. But she just picked up her best win in ages, holding off a Coco Gauff comeback to progress to the quarter-finals here for the first time in her career.
Garcia is a very streaky player who has the ability to just turn it on out of apparently nowhere. She did just that in 2022, storming her way to the Cincinnati and WTA Finals titles as she momentarily looked the best hardcourt player in world tennis. Perhaps that upset win over Gauff can galvanize the hard-hitting Frenchwoman.
Danielle Collins- the queen of grunt- seems to be playing with a great degree of freedom after announcing that this will be the last season in her professional career. The 2022 Aussie Open runner-up has forged a successful career for herself despite battles with both rheumatoid arthritis and endometriosis.
But the physical toll has proved too much and she will quit the game at the end of the year. But she seems intent on making the most of it, reaching her 2nd WTA 1000 quarterfinal of the year after a routine straight-sets win over Sorana Cirstea.
This has been by far the most fruitful WTA 1000 event of Collins’ career (this will be her 3rd quarterfinal in this event). She will no doubt receive some rambunctious home support as she looks to reach the semi-finals of a WTA 1000 event for just the second time in her career.
Verdict: Collins to win in three sets 31/10
The American has won all three of their previous meetings in straight sets. And it I think the American could make it four wins in a row.
She has won her last three matches in straight sets and she is riding a real positive wave of momentum. Garcia has been wildly inconsistent this season and it’s hard to see her maintaining her level all week.
