Miami Open 2024 Day 4: Women's singles predictions ft. Ons Jabeur vs Elina Avanesyan
Players will be aiming to book their spots in the third round of the 2024 Miami Open on Friday.
The second round began on Thursday and quite a few big names have already been eliminated. Former World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki blew match points during her three-set loss to Anhelina Kalinina.
13th seed Liudmila Samsonova, 16th seed Veronika Kudermetova, and 25th seed Elise Mertens were also sent packing. Elena Rybakina was on the verge of an early exit but staged a comeback to sneak past Clara Tauson.
Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys, Victoria Azarenka, Zheng Qinwen, and Dayana Yastremska were among the other winners of the day. The second round will now continue on Friday.
On that note, here are the predictions for some of the women's singles matches lined up on Day 4 of the Miami Open:
#1 - Ons Jabeur vs Elina Avanesyan
Recurring injuries have completely derailed Jabeur's campaign this season. She has a 2-4 record for the year and has exited from her last two tournaments without winning a match. Both of her wins were against players ranked outside of the top 100.
Avanesyan defeated Erika Andreeva 6-0, 3-6, 6-1 to reach the second round of the Miami Open for the first time in her career. She has a pretty good shot at going a step further considering the Tunisian's health woes.
If Jabeur has managed to recover completely, this should be a walk in the park for her. However, if she continues to play like she has all year long, then it's Avanesyan who has the edge here.
Predicted winner: Elina Avanesyan
#2 - Danielle Collins vs Anasatisia Potapova
Collins commenced her final run at the Miami Open with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 comeback win over Bernarda Pera. Potapova, meanwhile, reached the quarterfinals of the Indian Wells Open last week. She also made the last eight in Miami last year.
Collins has enough firepower to blow Potapova off the court. She looked a bit off in the first set against Pera but imposed herself from the second set onwards as she took control of the match.
Potapova has played quite well in recent weeks but Collins has always raised her level every time she has competed in Miami. With this being her last year on the tour, she's not going down that easy. The American's fighting spirit should propel her past her opponent.
Predicted winner: Danielle Collins
#3 - Donna Vekic vs Ekaterina Alexandrova
Vekic began her Miami Open campaign 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 win over former World No. 1 Karolina Pliskova. It was just her second win over the Czech in nine matches. Alexandrova has been going through a rough patch for a while as she has lost her last three matches.
The Russian was eliminated from the WTA 1000 events in Dubai and Indian Wells without winning a match. Before that, she lost to Iga Swiatek in the third round of the Qatar Open.
The two have split their previous four meetings evenly to tie the head-to-head at 2-2. Alexandrova won their most recent encounter at this year's Linz Open in a hard-fought three-set tussle.
So far neither has registered consecutive wins over the other. If the pattern holds, then it is Vekic's time to shine. Alexandrova's recent results also tip the scales in the Croat's favor.
Predicted winner: Donna Vekic
#4 - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Shelby Rogers
Rogers rallied from a set down to score a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over Linda Fruhvirtova in the first round of the Miami Open. It marked her first win of the season following her return to the tour in January.
Pavlyuchenkova has been one of the better-performing players this season. She reached the semifinals of the Qatar Open and the Linz Open, and the quarterfinals in Adelaide and San Diego.
Pavlyuchenkova also made it to the fourth round of the Indian Wells Open where she lost to Marta Kostyuk. While Rogers does have a knack for knocking top players off their perch, she hasn't beaten a top 30 player in over a year. The Russian is in pretty decent form as well and is likely to make it through this clash.
Predicted winner: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova