Women’s second round action begins on Thursday, including Major champions like Victoria Azarenka and Elena Rybakina, as well as American top seeds Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff.
The highest profile WTA match of the day sees Azarenka, a three-time Miami Open champion, face Italy’s Camila Giorgi, who is always a threat on a faster hard court. Meanwhile, men’s first round action concludes on Thursday, headlined by 2020 US Open champ Dominic Thiem facing Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego.
Each day, this preview will analyze the two most intriguing matchups, while highlighting other notable matches on the schedule. Thursday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time.
Lorenzo Sonego vs. Dominic Thiem (WC) – Not Before 7:00pm on Stadium Court
Dominic Thiem continues to struggle to regain his form after missing nearly a year of action due to a wrist injury. He showed some signs of his former self during the fall, reaching the semifinals of both Gijon and Antwerp. However, he is just 1-8 at all levels to start 2023, with his only win coming on clay in Buenos Aires over Alex Molcan. Thiem has lost two of his last three matches in a final-set tiebreak, including two weeks ago to Adrian Mannarino at Indian Wells, a tournament Dominic won four years ago.
Sonego was ranked as high as 21st in the world just 18 months ago, but is now 59th, and owns a 5-8 record in 2023. Yet it’s worth noting he’s also had some tough draws. Five of those eight losses have come against top 20 opposition.
These players have split two previous meetings., both on clay. In 2019 in Kitzbuhel, Thiem prevailed in straight sets. In 2021 in Rome, Sonego prevailed in an epic encounter on his home soil, claiming a third-set tiebreak after nearly three-and-a-half hours. While neither man arrives in Miami with much confidence, it’s hard to favor Dominic until he gets back to his winning ways.
Camila Giorgi vs. Victoria Azarenka (14) – Not Before 7:00pm on Grandstand Court
Azarenka’s three Miami titles came in 2009, 2011, and 2016, defeating Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, and Svetlana Kuznetsova in those finals. She is 38-10 lifetime in Miami, and 10-6 on the season, with half of those victories coming during her semifinal run at the Australian Open.
Giorgi is also 10-6 this year, with half of her wins coming during her title run last month at a hard court event in Merida. In the first round on Tuesday, she survived a dramatic affair against another of the WTA’s hardest hitters, defeating Kaiai Kanepi in a match that consisted of three tiebreak sets and lasted over three-and-a-half hours.
Giorgi leads their head-to-head 2-1. That includes a victory nine years ago on grass, as well as a win five years ago on a hard court, though Azarenka retired after only eight games in that match. Most recently, four years ago on a hard court in Toronto, Vika won in straight sets. On Thursday, I give Azarenka the edge in a city where she has enjoyed much success, especially considering Giorgi may be a bit physically depleted after her opening round.
Other Notable Matches on Thursday:
Jessica Pegula (3) vs. Katherine Sebov (Q) – Pegula is 15-5 in 2023, and lost a heartbreaker at Indian Wells to Petra Kvitova in an extended third-set tiebreak, during which both players held multiple match points. Sebov is a 24-year-old Canadian who has claimed two ITF-level hard court titles within the past few months.
Rebecca Marino vs. Coco Gauff (6) – Gauff is 14-4 this season, and is just 3-3 lifetime at her home state’s biggest event. Marino is a 32-year-old Canadian who has taken several extended breaks from competitive tennis, but won 49 matches at all levels last year. At the 2022 French Open, Coco defeated Rebecca 7-5, 6-0.
Elena Rybakina (10) vs. Anna Kalinskaya – Rybakina is now 16-4 on the year, coming off her Indian Wells title run last week, where she avenged her Australian Open final loss to Aryna Sabalenka. Kalinskaya is 6-4 in main draws this season, and while she’s never played Elena at tour level, she did defeat her four years ago in the final of an ITF-level event in Australia.
Thursday’s full Order of Play is here.
