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Match Details
Fixture: (2) Aryna Sabalenka vs Paula Badosa
Date: TBD
Tournament: Miami Open 2024
Round: Second Round (Round of 64)
Venue: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida, U.S.
Category: WTA 1000
Surface: Hardcourt (Outdoor)
Prize Money: $8,995,555
Live Telecast: USA - Tennis Channel & TC Plus | UK - Sky Sports | Canada - TSN & TVA
Aryna Sabalenka vs Paula Badosa preview
Aryna Sabalenka is slated to kick off her 2024 Miami Open campaign against good friend Paula Badosa in the second round.
Sabalenka began her season at the Brisbane International, finishing runner-up to Elena Rybakina. She successfully defended her Australian Open title to claim her second Grand Slam title of her career. She did it without dropping a set, beating Barbora Krejcikova, Coco Gauff, and Zheng Qinwen en route to the title.
She has since been at the receiving end of two disappointing defeats. She lost in the first round of the Dubai Tennis Championships to Donna Vekic 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-0 despite being a set and a break. She fought her way to the fourth round at the BNP Paribas Open but succumbed to 23rd seed Emma Navarro 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
Paula Badosa, meanwhile, already kicked off her Miami Open campaign against former World No. 1 Simona Halep in the first round on Tuesday, March 19.
Halep, who was playing her first match since US Open 2022 due to her doping ban, took the early lead and the first set. Badosa came back strongly in the second, winning it 6-4. Badosa jumped to the lead in the decider with the early break and managed to serve it out despite pain in her right foot.
Badosa, a former World No. 2, has not yet got going this season, with her best finish coming at the Australian Open where she reached the third round.
Aryna Sabalenka vs Paula Badosa head-to-head
Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa have faced off four times on tour with honors split equally at 2-2. Sabalenka won their last encounter in Stuttgart last year. Badosa, however, has won both their meetings on hard courts.
Aryna Sabalenka vs Paula Badosa odds
All odds sourced from BETMGM.
Aryna Sabalenka vs Paula Badosa prediction
Sabalenka and Badosa's second-round encounter in Miami promises plenty of action as all their matches have done in the past.
Sabalenka heads into the match on the back of two disappointing results where she wasn't seen playing at her destructive best. The Belarusian started the year in fine form but has seen a drop in intensity over the past month.
Badosa, meanwhile, looked good during her first-round encounter against Halep despite a minor niggle in her right foot at the end of the match. The Spaniard former has been fighting injuries over the past year and lacked consistency because of that.
Both players will look to stake their claim early in the match. Badosa will have to create inroads early if she is to have a chance against the World No. 2. Sabalenka on the other hand will look to come out and piece together a special performance in memory of her partner Konstantin Koltsov, who tragically passed away on Tuesday, March 19.
Despite all that is going on in her personal life, Sabalenka walks into the match as the favorite, but there is no discounting a surprise from the power-packed game of the former World No. 2 Badosa.
Pick: Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets.
