Top five title favourites in women's singles at Miami Open 2024

Published at :March 21, 2024 at 6:17 AM

Modified at :April 1, 2024 at 9:21 PM

(Courtesy : CNN)

Swiatek’s chances for a second Sunshine Double at Miami gets a boost following defending champion Petra Kvitova’s absence.

With Indian Wells Open in the rearview, the action moves to Miami for the second half of the Sunshine Double. The Miami Open 2024 by Itau main draw, held on Sunday, promises some intriguing clashes to look forward to. A conspicuous absence would be defending champion Petra Kvitova, who is on maternity leave.

Iga Swiatek has a rare second opportunity to claim the sunshine double as she did in 2022. Simona Halep returns to the WTA Tour with a wildcard at Miami. Naomi Osaka, Carolina Garcia and Angelique Kerber continue on their comeback trail. Elena Rybakina, too, returns to the fray after withdrawing from the Indian Wells.

Rybakina’s health issues saw her withdraw from the Dubai WTA 1000 event as well. Her recurring health woes will affect her chances of making it to a second final in a row at Miami.

The singles draw’s pool has 96 players, with the top 32 seeds benefitting from first-round byes.

Here are the five women players in the singles draw with the best chance of lifting the trophy on March 31.

Iga Swiatek

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek returned to her winning ways at Indian Wells after her semi-final exit in Dubai. She comes to Miami with a significant chance to claim her second Indian Wells-Miami double—a feat she accomplished in 2022. The only other player in recent years with that accomplishment was Victoria Azarenka in 2016. German legend and the only woman to pull off the Sunshine Double twice is Steffi Graf in 1994 and 1996.

The Pole will be meeting Linda Noskova for the third time this season in the early stages of the competition. She is fresh from claiming her second BNP Paribas Open title in three years, with Maria Sakkari being her opponent on both occasions.

A clean run to the semi-finals looks likely for the reigning French Open champion, where she could meet Ons Jabeur. The Tunisian has been experiencing a slump in form and will need to pull herself together if she is to make a mark at Miami.

Aryna Sabalenka

Aryna Sabalenka made a winning start to the 2024 season, retaining her Australian Open crown with a convincing straight set win 6-3, 6-2, over first-time finalist at Melbourne, Qinwen Zheng. A reversal of fortunes saw her head for an early exit in Dubai and the Indian Wells. She had to contend with an unexpected defeat in the quarter-finals in California, losing to Emma Navarro 3-6, 6-3, 2-6.

Sabalenka is a two-time quarter-finalist at the Miami Open (2021 and 2023). She will face either Simona Halep or Paula Badosa in the second round. A possible rematch with the 2016 Miami Open title winner Victoria Azarenka or 2024 Australian Open finalist Qinwen Zheng is on the cards in the quarter-finals.

Similar to Indian Wells, the Belarusian will be making her way up from the bottom half of the draw. Awaiting the World No. 2 in the third round could be another Melbourne opponent and quarter-finalist Barbora Krejcikova.

Coco Gauff

No. 3 seed Coco Gauff will be the player to watch in her quarter of the draw. The Florida native, who was in a hard-fought tussle with Maria Sakkari for a spot in the 2024 BNP Paribas Finals, should have no trouble getting past unseeded American Ashlyn Krueger or the qualifier who will take her place.

Gauff’s first real test could come in the form of either Marta Kostyuk in the third round. Kostyuk had shown the door to the American in the 2024 Australian Open quarter-finals, winning 7-6(6), 6-7(3), 6-2.

Possible Round of 16 opponents for Gauff include Naomi Osaka or Elina Svitolina. Ons Jabeur and Daria Kasatkina are the other top-10 seeds in her part of the draw. A last-four grudge match between Gauff and Swiatek is a possibility. The 20-year-old lost to Swiatek in the Round of 16 of the Miami Open two years ago, trailing the World No. 1, 1-9 in their head-to-head.

Qinwen Zheng

Qinwen Zheng will be the proverbial dark horse at Miami. She won two titles last season in Palermo and Zhengzhou, besides making it to the finals of the season-opening Australian Open Grand Slam. The win at Zhengzhou on home turf came on debut.

Though she lost to Aryna Sabalenka in the finals at Melbourne, she climbed to a career-high ranking of World No. 7. It was also her best performance in a major, improving on her quarter-final appearance in last year’s US Open. Zheng became only the second Chinese woman to enter the top-10 bracket since Li Na in 2014.

This year would be Zheng’s third time in Miami, as she reached the Round of 16 last year at this venue. The Chinese finds herself in the same quarter part of the draw as former Miami Open title holder Victoria Azarenka and winner of the 2024 San Diego Open Katie Boulter.

Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia, seeded 11th, is the highest seed she will encounter in her first week at Miami until a looming face-off against Aryna Sabalenka.

Maria Sakkari

No. 8 seed Maria Sakkari appears in the bottom half of the draw. The Greek player made her second final in three years at the Indian Wells. Sakkari, who is experiencing a resurgence in her career thanks to new coach David Witt, saw off an in-form Emma Navarro and current US Open champion Iga Swiatek back-to-back to reach her first final since Guadalajara in 2023.

Sakkari could run into World No. 10 Jelena Ostapenko in the fourth round. Anna Kalinskaya and Dayana Yastremska are the other possible rivals she may end up facing in the Round of 16. Three-time champion Victoria Azarenka is also in her half of the draw. Sakkari will look to continue her recently acquired momentum as she navigates her side of the field consisting of four other top-10 seeds.

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