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WTA Miami: Monday Order of Play, Williams sisters star

By Geoff Nichols

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WTA Miami: Monday Order of Play, Williams sisters star

The Williams sisters are in action at the Miami Masters on Monday. Serena follows Venus onto the Miami Stadium court at the start of the day’s play. Both women have made solid progress through the draw and will look to continue their form in the fourth round.

Serena hasn’t been unduly tested to this point, losing only 6 games in 2 matches, the last of which was a 6-1 6-1 defeat of 15 year old rising American star Catherine Bellis. When she comes against her first seeded opponent in the form of Svetlana Kuznetsova, the level required will certainly increase.

Venus on the other hand has had to progress through a tougher section of the draw, mainly due to her being the 16th seed in Miami. Even so, she has been impressive in reaching the fourth round without dropping a set and looks to be returning to a level close to where we know she can play.

Ana Ivanovic was the biggest name casualty in the third round of the Miami Masters, where despite one particularly memorable points, she failed to get going against Sabine Lisicki. The popular German, seed 27th, is rewarded with a tricky fourth round tie against the wily 11th seed Sara Errani.

Monday 30th Schedule

STADIUM

Start 11:00 am

[16] Venus Williams (USA) v [4] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)

[1] Serena Williams (USA) v [24] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)

Not Before 9:00 pm

[3] Simona Halep (ROU) v [15] Flavia Pennetta (ITA)

GRANDSTAND

Not Before 3:00 pm

[8] Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) v [9] Andrea Petkovic (GER)

COURT 1

Start 11:00 am

[7] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) v [12] Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP)

[14] Karolina Pliskova (CZE) v [WC] Daria Gavrilova (RUS)

[11] Sara Errani (ITA) v [27] Sabine Lisicki (GER)

Sloane Stephens (USA) v Belinda Bencic (SUI)

Game of the Day – V Williams v Wozniacki

The fourth round serves up a fascinating match that has warranted Stadium court billing on Monday. Venus Williams holds a 6-0 head to head lead over Caroline Wonziacki, which mentally could be a significant factor as the match goes on.

Whilst four of these meetings came prior to 2008, Venus even had the upper hand of the Dane in their most recent encounter, a three set battle in the final of Auckland at the start of the year. Wozniacki was favourite heading into the match but could not get her first win.

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Now there seems to be nothing between the two women, although Venus appears to be slight favourite despite being lower in the rankings. With such little to separate the two, the fact that the match will be played in the heat of the middle of the day may be a factor.

Wonziacki has 10 year on her opponent and could well settle in for the long haul in an attempt to tip the balance and use the conditions to her advantage. I think that the longer the match goes on, the more you have to favour Wozniacki.

Prediction – Wonziacki in three

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Next: Will Stan Wawrinka be a one slam wonder?

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