The Miami Open, a joint ATP/WTA 1000 event, is coming to a conclusion this weekend and the men’s and women’s draws couldn’t have been more different. Three of the top four seeds in the men’s draw are into the semi-finals and the women’s semi-finals featured just one of the top four seeds along with the 14th seed, 27th seed, and an unranked player.
The women’s final takes place on Saturday, while the men’s semi-finals and final occur on Friday and Sunday, respectively. Here’s a look back at what happened during the last two weeks and a look ahead to this weekend’s matches.
Miami Open Recap
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic was the only notable absence from the men’s draw and, without him in contention, the tournament has largely gone as expected. Three of the four top players in the world after Djokovic – Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev, and Alex Zverev – are into the semi-finals, with the only notable upset being Grigor Dimitrov beating Carlos Alcaraz 6-2, 6-4 in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
The women’s draw has been incredibly unpredictable. Four of the top-10 seeds, including world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, were eliminated in the third round. World No. 1 Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff lost in the fourth round. In the semi-finals, Elena Rybakina, a finalist last year, beat Victoria Azarenka in three sets and American Danielle Collins advanced to her first WTA 1000 final with a straight set win over Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Men’s Semi-Finals Betting Previews
Jannik Sinner (-190) vs. Daniil Medvedev (+165)
Sinner and Medvedev meet for the 11th time in the first of two Miami Open semi-finals. Sinner, understandably, is the betting favorite. The 22-year-old Italian won the Australian Open earlier this year and is an impressive 20-1 overall, with his only loss coming to Carlos Alcaraz at Indian Wells. He’s 15-1 on hard courts.
Medvedev is 18-3 this year and 6-4 overall against Sinner. He’s looking for redemption following a crushing loss in the Australian Open final, which he led two sets to none before Sinner’s epic comeback. Sinner has won four consecutive matches, all on hard courts, against Medvedev.
Alexander Zverev (-151) vs. Grigor Dimitrov (+131)
There’s also quite a bit of history between Zverev and Dimitrov as they’ve played eight matches, with Zverev holding a 7-1 advantage, including four victories on outdoor hard courts. Zverev is 18-5 this season, while Dimitrov is an impressive 19-4 after having somewhat of a career resurgence with a 43-21 record last year.
Zverev has won seven consecutive matches against Dimitrov, most recently beating him in straight sets at the Chengdu Open. He also beat him at the 2023 U.S. Open.
Women’s Final Betting Preview
Elena Rybakina (-180) vs. Danielle Collins (+160)
The Rybakina and Collins final is an interesting one since Rybakina has been unquestionably one of the best players in the world over the last year, while Collins is ranked No. 53 in the world. Yet, Rybakina has won four of her five matches in three sets, while Collins has cruised to the final with five two-set victories in six matches. She has needed only 8 hours and 3 minutes to play six matches, while Rybakina has been on court 11 hours and 36 minutes.
This is a match with great upset potential not only because of how Collins has performed but also because Rybakina has been apparently dealing with pain and discomfort from an undisclosed injury that caused her to withdraw from Indian Wells two weeks ago.
