The singles quarterfinals continue on Wednesday in Miami.
With the top three seeds in the women’s singles draw making early exits, this week provides a huge opportunity for new or resurgent players to make their mark at the WTA 1000 level. Wednesday’s quarterfinals see Caroline Garcia, who has already eliminated Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff, take on red-hot American Danielle Collins. And another American, Jessica Pegula, faces Ekaterina Alexandrova, who upset World No.1 Iga Swiatek in the last round.
By contrast, the top three seeds have all advanced to the men’s singles quarterfinals, and two of them play on Wednesday, and against opponents vying to reach their first Masters 1000 semifinal. Jannik Sinner takes on one of many fast-rising Czech players, Tomas Machac, while Daniil Medvedev faces Nicolas Jarry, who took out seventh-seeded Casper Ruud on Tuesday afternoon.
Each day, this preview will analyze the two most intriguing matchups, while highlighting other notable matches on the schedule. Wednesday’s play gets underway at 1:00pm local time.
Caroline Garcia (23) vs. Danielle Collins – 1:00pm on Stadium Court
Garcia is such a streaky player. Her career has included some tremendous stretches where she is one of the best performers in the world, and others where she loses more matches than she wins. Caroline arrived in Miami 6-7 on the year, yet the Frenchwoman seems to be heating up yet again, judging by her extremely high level of play against both Osaka and Gauff in the last two rounds.
Collins can be streaky as well, perhaps not surprising in either of their cases given how aggressively-minded both these players are. But when Danielle is “on,” she can completely dominate just about anyone. And that’s exactly what she’s done in Miami to this stage. Her last eight set scores are as follows: 6-1, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.
The history between Collins and Garcia has been nearly that one-sided as well. Danielle leads 3-0, and has taken all six sets they’ve contested. All three of those matches were on hard courts, and two were played in the United States. When “The Danimal” is playing like this, I rarely doubt her chances. And her only previous WTA 1000 semifinal came at this same tournament in 2018. Collins should be favored to return to that round this week.
Ekaterina Alexandrova (14) vs. Jessica Pegula (5) – Not Before 7:00pm on Stadium Court
Alexandrova was mightily impressive against Swiatek on Monday night, striking 31 winners in two sets, and becoming only the third player to prevent Iga from breaking serve in a WTA 1000 match. This is her third quarterfinal at this level, and her second in a row in Miami. Ekaterina is 11-7 this year, and reached a hard court final last month in Linz.
Pegula recently ended her long-time coaching relationship with David Witt, looking for new voices to help progress her game. She is now working with Mark Knowles and Mark Merklein, and after losing the first match under their watch in Indian Wells, Jess has looked sharp thus far in Miami. She has not dropped a set through three matches, and defeated fast-rising fellow American Emma Navarro on Monday.
They’ve only played once before, which occurred three years ago on clay in Rome, with Pegula prevailing in straight sets. And Jess is the far more accomplished player, especially at the WTA 1000 level, where she’s reached the quarterfinals or better 15 times within the last four years.
If Alexandrova can maintain her level from the Swiatek match, she could easily win this contest. But doing so coming off the biggest win of her career from a ranking perspective will be extremely challenging. Pegula is the steadier and more consistent performer, and I give her the edge on Wednesday.
Other Notable Matches on Wednesday:
Tomas Machac vs. Jannik Sinner (2) – Sinner is now 19-1 on the year, as he looks to reach his third Miami semifinal out of the last four years. Prior to this event, Machac had never advanced beyond the second round at any Masters 1000 tournament, but he has played some impressive tennis this fortnight to overcome the likes of Andrey Rublev and Andy Murray. This will be their first career meeting.
Nicolas Jarry (22) vs. Daniil Medvedev (3) – Medvedev is 17-3 this season, and the defending champion has not dropped a set through three matches in Miami. Jarry survived two extended battles earlier in this event that lasted three hours or longer, against Jack Draper and Thiago Seyboth Wild. Daniil claimed their only previous encounter, five years ago on clay.
Wednesday’s full Order of Play is here.
