Tennis: Abrams picks the women’s singles 3rd round at Miami Open

Miami Open
Women’s Third Round picks

Naomi Osaka ovear Su-Wei Hsieh
Naomi Osaka is the new standard-bearer in women’s tennis and as such must be accorded much respect. After winning the last two Grand Slam tournaments she has planted herself firmly as No. 1 in the world, and has been winning at a rate expected from the world’s best, holding an 11-3 record in 2019. I have been slow in picking her to win all her matches because I’ve needed to see if she could win consistently, and am finally convinced that she can. Still just 21-years-old, Osaka is susceptible to walkabouts from time to time, but that’s the nature of this game. She has a really terrific serve, and patrols the baseline hitting bombs off of both sides, which allows her to take control of most of the points. She holds a 2-0 record over Hsieh, who had a good win over American Alison Riske yesterday. Hsieh will test Osaka, and this match will probably go three, but I’d expect Osaka to rise to the occasion.

Caroline Wozniacki over Monica Niculescu
Wozniacki, a former world’s No. 1, has shown extreme dominance over Niculescu over the years, holding a 9-1 lifetime record over the Romanian. The only time Niculescu triumphed was in the Qualies of a 2016 tournament in Luxembourg, a win that the WTA doesn’t even count in their official statistics. Although Niculescu set this match up with a terrific win over former Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza, the Romanian doesn’t possess either the firepower or the confidence to take out the Dane. Wozniacki should win in two.

Angelique Kerber over Bianca Andreescu
Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu loudly announced her presence to the tennis world last week by winning the very prestigious Indian Wells title, and the $1.3 million prize money awarded to the winner. Perhaps as impressive as her win last week was her win over Irina-Camelia Begu here, after she caught a cross-country flight to Miami and played the very next day here in South Florida. That’s quite a feat for anyone, let alone an 18-year-old making her first international splash. Because she wasn’t seeded in this tournament, now, just five days after having played for the Indian Wells title, the Canadian will play Germany’s Angie Kerber once again, her Finals opponent last week. I think Kerber, a three-time Grand Slam Champion, will take this opportunity to even the score with Andreescu. Bianca must be tired, having had to play American Sofia Kenin yesterday, while Kerber had the advantage of getting a bye afforded her by her seeded (8) status, before taking out qualifier Karolina Muchova. Andreescu is clearly here to stay but she’ll get some much-needed rest after Kerber gets revenge.

Ash Barty over Sam Stosur
One thing none of us can argue about is that you can’t turn back time. Sometimes I think Aussie Sam Stosur would like to, because not too long ago she won the U.S.Open defeating Serena Williams in the final. But the 34-year-old Stosur is just a shadow of the player she used to be and sports a very mediocre 3-5 record in 2019. Her younger (22 years old) compatriot, Ash Barty, is now the No. 1 Australian woman, and Barty should have her way with Stosur. Barty is 12-3 this year and is ranked No. 12 in the world. Ash will win. But if they compared chiseled arms, Stosur would easily take that competition, as she might against most of the men, too.

Karolina Pliskova over Alize Cornet
I love watching Alize Cornet, the appealing Frenchwoman, play tennis. She moves gracefully, strikes the ball squarely, and plays a thinking-person’s game. You can almost see her problem solve as each of her matches unfolds. But she’s running into a very hot and very effective Karolina Pliskova today. Pliskova, ranked and seeded 5th here, is 16-4 this year, and doesn’t lose much to players ranked below her. She’s 6’1”, and that helps both her serves and groundies and allows her to gobble up lots of court each time she runs. She should win this match pretty easily, although the match itself will probably be fun to watch.

Marketa Vondrousova over Elise Mertens
Women’s tennis as a whole exhibits younger players than the Men’s Tour. The women tend to mature quicker and have been able to reach their peak younger than most of the men. Here, at 23, 16th seeded Elise Mertens is the old time veteran. Marketa Vondrousova is a wondrous 19-year-old Czech with unlimited potential. Last week Vondrousova got to the quarters in Indian Wells and took out No. 2 seeded Simona Halep in a terrific Round of 16 win. She’s for real. I think the next scalp she’ll pocket will be the 16th seeded Mertens right here and right now.

Yafan Wang over Danielle Collins
Yafan Wang, the 24-year-old from Bejing, has been playing her best tennis this year. She sports an 11-3 record year to date, and has a WTA title to her name, having won the Mexico Open in Acapulco several weeks ago. Danielle Collins, the two-time NCAA champion from UVA, is seeded here because of her phenomenal run to this year’s Australian Open semi-finals, but has not impressed me otherwise. Collins is nothing if not confident, and I would repeat what I wrote last week, as being the 25th seed, Collins wonders why there are 24 players seeded above her. But Wang is on a roll, having already beaten the tough Kristina Mladenovic and the 6th ranked Elina Svitolina this week, both in straight sets and Collins looked sluggish and bewildered, especially in the first set last night, as she battled 16-year-old American Whitney Osuigwe. Wang will leave Collins wondering how she lost to the 50th ranked player after this match.

Qiang Wang over Serena Williams
It’s hard to believe that these two Tour veterans have never played, but this will be the first meeting between the 18th ranked Wang, from Tianjin, China, and the 10th ranked Serena Williams. At almost 38, today’s Serena is not yesterday’s Serena, and although she hasn’t yet realized it, she is no longer a threat to win every week. Ten years ago opposing players would cower at the mere thought of playing the American, whereas now, most of the players know that she not only is beatable, but that they are capable of winning. Such is the nature of this match. Wang is 11-4 this year. Serena is only 5-2. Wang might need two or three games to get used to Serena’s pace, but after that I think Wang’s game will prove to be too consistent for the rapidly aging American. It’ll still be a good win for the player from China, but not surprising to the tennis world . . . or to me.

Simona Halep over Pola Hercog
Halep, clearly one of the two or three best players in the world, toyed with American Taylor Townsend, who has been told repeatedly by the USTA to lose 25 pounds. Halep now comes up against Slovenia’s Pola Hercog, who presents a real problem for the 27-year-old Romanian. Hercog is big (6’1”), strong, and actually holds a 1-0 lifetime advantage over her 2nd ranked opponent, having won their only meeting way back in 2009 on clay in Bulgaria. Whatever the metrics and the optics, however, Halep lost last week in the Round of 16 at Indian Wells, and will be chomping at the bit to go deep into this tournament. I expect Halep to move on, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she is be challenged here.