2019 Miami Open Preview
The first two major tennis tournaments of the year are in the books and on the women’s side; surprisingly (#notsurprisedatall) it is still unclear who will be the dominant player of 2019.
Naomi Osaka shocked us all in January by winning the Australian Open and proving that she’s a champion that’s here to stay. While widely unknown newcomer Bianca Andreescu made history last week in the desert of Indian Wells, California by becoming the first wild card to win the BNP Paribas Open.
The tour now heads to beautiful Miami, Florida where for the first time ever the Miami Open will be played at Hard Rock Stadium (yeah, where the Dolphins play). While I’m still a bit skeptical of tennis in a football stadium, I’m still very excited to see how the tournament unfolds.
Here are my players to watch on the women’s side:
Serena Williams
Serena fans had a lot to be excited about after watching her defeat fellow champion, mother, and former world number one Victoria Azarenka in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open last week. In what has been called one of the best matches of the year so far, Serena looked very strong and in great form to make a run for her first title since returning to tennis after giving birth.
Unfortunately, the excitement was short-lived as Serena fell ill in the very next round against Garbine Mugaruza, having to retire after just one set.
“Before the match, I did not feel great, and then it just got worse with every second: extreme dizziness and extreme fatigue,” Williams said in a statement. “By the score, it might have looked like I started well, but I was not feeling at all well physically.”
As usual, all eyes will be on Serena heading into this tournament, as she looks to show the world that she can return to tennis dominance despite taking a year off to have a child. Hopefully, the 11–12 days that she’s had between matches will be enough for her to recover from this illness, but things aren’t looking too hot for the GOAT as the tour heads to South Beach.
Sloane Stephens
It hasn’t been the best start to the 2019 season for American Sloane Stephens, but then again she didn’t have a great start to the 2018 season either before rolling into Miami last year and snatching her hometown title. After a lopsided 3–6, 0–6 second round defeat to world number 109 Stefanie Voegele last week in Indian Wells, Sloane will certainly be looking to turn things around in Miami and defend her title.
It won’t be easy though; especially considering Sloane is currently without a coach as she recently parted ways with Kamau Murray, the man who played a huge role in developing her into a Top 10 player and grand slam champion. Widely considered one of the streakiest players on tour, Sloane is no stranger to rough patches and despite her ability to turn things around on a dime, she doesn’t sound too confident heading into South Beach this year.
“Sometimes things are really shitty, and they always get better. So that’s good,” Stephens said after her loss to Voegele. “I think things will get better. Might not be in the next week. Might not be next week. But for sure in the next couple of months maybe things will figure themselves out.”
Probably not exactly what you want to hear if you’re a Sloane Stephens fan hoping for a title defense, but with a player like Sloane playing in front of her home crowd, you can never count her out. While it doesn’t seem likely that she’ll be holding up the glass trophy at the end of the week, I certainly wouldn’t be shocked if it happens.
Bianca Andreescu
Last year Naomi Osaka, then 20 years-old and ranked number 44 in the world, strutted into the BNP Paribas Open and cemented her name into the minds of tennis fans everywhere by defeating Maria Sharapova, Karolina Pliskova, and then world number one Simona Halep in route to her first WTA title. A year later, Osaka is now a two-time grand slam champion, and while it may be insanely unfair to place such expectations on her successor, 2019 BNP Paribas Open champion Bianca Andreescu, it’s hard not to make the comparison.
Last week the 18 year-old Canadian made history in Indian Wells by becoming the first-ever wild card to win the tournament. Ranked at just 60 in the world, Bianca defeated two top 10 players, including reigning Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber in the final, to win her first WTA title. Her crafty yet powerful baseline game definitely caught the attention of tennis heads, and surely the rest of the women on tour. After a week and a half of amazing tennis in the desert, it will be a tough ask for Bianca to turn around and make a run in Miami, but it’ll be interesting to see how she managers expectations throughout the year.
Naomi Osaka
After winning the 2019 Australian Open, (her second straight grand slam title) and ascending to number one in the world, all eyes were on Osaka last week at the BNP Paribas Open, as tennis’ newest superstar set out to defend her first WTA title. Unfortunately, the task proved to be a bit too steep for Naomi as she was ousted by a white hot Belinda Bencic, 6–3, 6–1 in the 4th round. Bencic dominated from the baseline from the start, and never let Osaka sink her teeth into the match. Despite the lop-sided defeat, Naomi seemed to take the loss in stride.
“Honestly, I think at a time like this with that score line, I would usually feel very depressed and sad,” Osaka told reporters after the loss. “But I feel pretty good right now, because I think, given the circumstances, I tried my best and I don’t really have any regrets.”
We’ll see if Naomi can turn it around in Miami, and play up to that number one ranking.
Belinda Bencic
Arguably the hottest player on tour right now, Belinda must be rolling into Miami with confidence. After taking out four top 10 players last month to win the title in Dubai, the 22 year-old Swiss woman defeated two top five players in Indian Wells last week, including world number one Naomi Osaka, to make the semifinals.
Belinda’s game has garnered attention ever since she made the quarterfinals of the US Open back in 2014, but unfortunately she hasn’t been able to make a deep run at a grand slam since. A tough wrist injury in 2017 sidelined her for five months and set back her progress, however, it appears that Belinda has recently found her groove. Will 2019 be the year that she’s finally able to break through to the next level? We’ll see if she’s able to continue her very strong hard court season in Miami.
Venus Williams
It definitely looked like it was going to be a straight forward second round win for world number three Petra Kvitova in Indian Wells last week, but seven-time grand slam champion Venus Williams had other ideas. Down a set and two breaks, Venus came storming back in extraordinary fashion defeating the Czech 4–6, 7–5, 6–3, proving once again that she can still compete and win against the game’s very best.
Venus would continue to march through the draw before eventually falling to Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals, 6–7, 3–6. Venus played a strong first set, but appeared to run out of steam in the second. While it’s clear that Venus still has the game to trouble any player on tour, it remains to be seen whether or not she still has the stamina to make it to the end of a tournament, as she hasn’t won a title since 2016 and hasn’t made a final since 2017.
Having made the quarterfinal of last year’s Miami Open, the pressure is on for Venus to defend those points this year. With a current world ranking of 43, you have to think that she’s looking to make a last minute push up the ranking list so that she doesn’t have to go into Roland Garros or Wimbledon unseeded.
If both women can hold up, Venus could eventually have a quarterfinal clash with her sister at this year’s Miami Open.
Other Players to Keep an Eye On:
Petra Kvitova: Despite the tough early-round loss to Venus last week, the two-time Wimbledon champion is playing really well. She’s already made two finals this year, including one at the Australian Open, and with a much more favorable draw in Miami, I’m expecting the world number two to make a deep run.
Angelique Kerber: With a fourth round exit in Australia and two unexpected losses in Doha and Dubai, Kerber’s 2019 campaign didn’t get off to the best of starts. However, it appears that the German sharp shooter has found her form again after reaching the final in the desert last week. We’ll see if she can keep up that momentum in Miami where she may get the chance to avenge her finals loss against Bianca Andreescu, as the two are set to meet in the third round.
Simona Halep: Despite ending the year ranked number one in the world, the Romanian has already slid down to the number three spot. Because the reigning French Open champion doesn’t have that one powerful shot, she has had to work extra hard to pull out tough wins and remain at the top of the sport for the past couple of years. One has to wonder though, if this is the year that she finally burns out.
Aryna Sabalenka: She’s recently had a couple of tough three-set fourth round losses to both Angelique Kerber and Belinda Bencic, but the 20 year-old from Belarus has a big ball and is capable of hitting any woman off the court. She’s in a tough quarter of the draw with both Kerber and Osaka looming, but the world number nine seems poised to make a major leap in her career soon.
- Top Half Pick: Petra Kvitova
- Bottom Half Pick: Belinda Bencic
- CHAMPION PICK: PETRA KVITOVA