Damien Kayat previews Petra Kvitova vs Ashley Barty and Simona Halep vs Qiang Wang from the quarter-finals at WTA's Miami Open.
WTA Tour 2019 | Premier Mandatory
Miami Open | Hard Rock Stadium, Miami
Selected Quarterfinals - 27-28 March 2019
Petra Kvitova (3) 11/20 vs Ashleigh Barty (12) 13/10
Czech superstar Petra Kvitova has become the queen of the non-Grand Slam event over the past year, winning on every imaginable surface in a truly astonishing career resurrection. But it was that run to the Aussie Open Final that really re-established the Czech as a force in the woman’s game. Her form has been slightly schizophrenic since Melbourne, though she did reach the final in Dubai. Disappointing results in St Petersburg and Indian Wells have hinted at a mercurial dimension to her game at present. That seems to really be true of the women’s game in general at present. But the two-time Wimbledon Champion will be looking for a strong Miami showing prior to the European clay-court season. She survived a scare against Donna Vekic in the opening match before a far more resounding victory over Caroline Garcia last time out.
Born in Ipswich, 22-year-old Aussie Ashleigh Barty has always been one of those frustrating players who just seemed unable to fulfil her potential. But she has worked hard at her game over the last year and has started to show some marked improvement in single’s play. She reached the semi-finals of the Wuhan Open towards the end of last year before going on to capture the WTA Elite Trophy. She started the year with a defeat in the Sydney Final before a quarter-final run in Melbourne - more on that later. Last week she was unfortunate to lose a final 16 match against Elina Svitolina in three arduous sets. She started this week with a routine victory over compatriot Samantha Stosur. But it was a white knuckle victory over Kiki Bertens that truly reveals how much she has grown this season.
This will be the fifth meeting between these two, with Kvitova holding a 4-0 stranglehold on proceedings. Furthermore, the Czech has already won twice this season. She beat Barty comfortably in the Melbourne quarters. But the Sydney final makes for far more intriguing reading. Kvitova battled past the pugnacious Barty in three tough sets. I think Barty could well be worth a twirl at 13/10. She reminds me in many ways of Belinda Bencic, who only just recently beat Kvitova in the Dubai Final. Perhaps Barty to win in three at 4/1 will offer better value.
Simona Halep (2) 7/20 vs Qiang Wang (18) 2/1
With stories such as Naomi Osaka and Bianca Andreescu dominating headlines, it’s perhaps easy to see why Qiang Wang’s recent resurgence has gone under the radar. The Chinese player had a magnificent end to her 2018 campaign, performing well in the Asian swing of the WTA Tour. She won the Guangzhou Open prior to back-to-back semi-finals at the China Open and Wuhan Open. She lost the Hong Kong Open Final prior to losing in the final of the WTA Elite trophy. She reached the semi-finals the Oracle Challenger series prior to a decent round of 16 showing at Indian Wells. It ultimately took the exploits of Bianca Andreescu to stop her. The indefatigable Chinese player thrashed Johanna Konta in her first round before benefitting massively from Serena Williams’ exit. She is a sturdy competitor who deserves the utmost respect.
Simona Halep has endured a frustrating campaign and will be hoping that her new found love for the Hard Rock Stadium takes her places. She comfortably saw off Venus Williams last time out and will be hoping to exploit the major outpouring of seeds thus far. To my mind, she hasn’t quite been the same since that gut-punch of a defeat to Serena in Melbourne. She reached the final in Qatar but once again failed to impress in Indian Wells last week. She will be desperate to gain some traction ahead of her beloved clay-court season. The defending champion will know that a massive title here will go a long way to proving her detractors wrong.
This will only be their second ever meeting, with Simona Halep easily winning their last encounter at Indian Wells last season. Halep seems smitten with the new surrounds and looks a great match for the Hard Rock cauldron. I personally think that she is going to devastate the pugnacious Chinese player with a vintage Halep performance in straight sets.
Written by Damien Kayat for Hollywoodbets
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