Sports Blog 01/04/2015: Tournament Preview – ATP/WTA 2015 Miami Open Quarter Finals, Wednesday 1st & Thursday 2nd April 2015

The Miami Open is reaching the upper echelons of the tournament, with quarter finals in both the men’s and women’s side of the draw to take place over Wednesday and (the early hours of) Thursday.

The first two quarter-finals of the men’s draw sees Dominic Thiem vs Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych vs Juan Monaco with the winners facing each other in the semis. The former takes place tonight at 8pm on Sky Sports 3, and should, in theory, provide an easy task for Murray. Currently ranked 4th, Murray reached his 500th professional victory by defeating Kevin Anderson in the 4th round. That win saw Murray drop his only set of the tournament so far in a series of strong performance as the Scot chases a third Miami Open title, with him winning it back in 2009 and 2013.



Thiem, for what it is worth, has had a scrappy route to the quarter finals, most recently beating Adrian Mannarino in a tight match that takes the young Austrian to his furthest point in a Masters 1000 tournament since leaving the junior circuit. Unsurprisingly, our Spreadex traders expect a win from the Scot, with a Murray/Thiem Match Supremacy spread of 14.5-16.5 (where a player receives 10 points per win and a further five per set won by) and a Game Supremacy spread of 4.3-5.3.

The early hours of Thursday morning (over here at least) then sees world no. 9 Tomas Berdych take on the Juan Monaco, the latter beating the man who beat Rafael Nadal to get to the quarter finals. This is Berdych’s sixth quarter final of the 2015 season, but he hasn’t had a blip-free Miami Open so far; he struggled in the third round against Bernard Tomic only for Tomic to throw the match away, whilst Berdych progressed over Gael Monfils after the Frenchman retired due to a heavy fall in the second set.



This leaves Monaco, who was a runner-up in the Argentinian Open back at the start of March after losing to Nadal in the final, with the slim chance of an upset. However, our traders feel it is a slim chance indeed, giving the advantage to Berdych at a Match Supremacy spread of 11-14 and a Game Supremacy spread of 3.5-5.

Over in the women’s side of the draw, one of the semi-finals is already filled up, with Carla Suarez Navarro set to face Andrea Petkovic. The other semi-final will be comprised of the winners of Serena Williams vs Sabine Lisicki and Simona Halep vs Sloane Stephens, with both games being shown on BT Sport 2 on Wednesday. Williams remains ranked 1st in the world after her Australian Open victory at the start of the year, and a semi-final finish at her first appearance at an Indian Wells tournament after a 14 year boycott.



Williams has also won the Miami Open for the past 2 years in a row, with a total of 7 Miami titles making her the most successful women’s player in the tournament’s history. Given that Williams has also breezed through the competition, Lisicki is facing a big task come 6pm. Lisicki has form in Miami, winning the doubles tournament in 2014 with Martina Hingis, and saw a significant victory over Ana Ivanovic in the third round, securing her first top 10 win of the year. Yet Williams is a formidable opponent, and has a clear advantage with a Williams/Lisicki Match Supremacy spread betting quote of 12-15 and a Game Supremacy quote of 4.3-5.3.

Finally, Simona Halep takes on Sloane Stephens on (technically) Thursday morning at 12am. In progressing to the quarter finals Halep has reached her furthest ever point in a Miami Open, capping off a strong 2015 season so far that saw her win the Shenzhen Open and the Indian Wells. Halep has had a relatively easy run so far, and may have been lucky with her quarter final draw, coming up against Sloane Stephens.



Stephens has been largely absent from the 2015 season after crashing out of the Australian Open in the first round, but has looked fairly good in the Miami Open. Stephens could cause a big upset if she beats the 3rd ranked Halep, but it looks unlikely, with Romanian star seeing a Match Supremacy spread of 7-10 in her favour, alongside a Game Supremacy spread of 2.5-3.5.