Ivanovic heading for quarter-final tie with Clijsters in Miami
Published:The third round line up’s for the top half of the draw were finalised yesterday and today it’s the turn of the bottom half which sees stars like Kim Clijsters, Vera Zvonareva and Ana Ivanovic in action.
The tie of the WTA Sony Ericsson Open second round is no doubt Zvonareva’s match with former world number one Dinara Safina which sees Zvonareva hold the 2/7 favouritism.
Safina may hold a 6-5 head-to-head advantage over Zvonareva but the world number three has the upper hand winning four of the last five, and while Safina continues to slide down the rankings (now 91), Zvonareva looks the pick of the Sony Ericsson Open betting to beat Safina 2-0 at 8/11.
Kim Clijsters has been heavily backed to progress to the third round and is 1/14 to beat Anastasiya Yakimova while Ana Ivanovic won’t be on court until around 1.00am GBT, but is the 1/4 favourite to beat Kimiko Date Krumm.
Maria Kirilienko faces a fight to oust her old foe Sania Mirza when the two meet at around 4.30pm and while the Russian is ranked 72 places higher and is 8/11 to win, she has never beaten her opponent in two attempts.
Mirza is available at 1/1 to beat Kirilenko and as neither of the two players have made it beyond the second round in their last four tournaments, we’re in for a tight game.
The ranking suggest Kirilenko is the better bet to win a tight match 2-1 at 11/4, but we’re siding with the Indian who offers slightly more value at 3/1 to win 2-1.
Elsewhere Victoria Azarenka looks a steal at 3/10 to beat Lucie Hradecka considering she is ranked 63 places higher than her opponent.
A £20 stake on Mirza beating Kirilenko 2-1 would return £80. New customers can sign up here to get £60 in free bets.
