Three To See, Miami: Barty-Svitolina, Rublev-Korda, Andreescu-Sakkari

Before each day's play at the 2021 Miami Open, we'll preview three matches to look out for.

Barty is the defending champion in Miami, the No. 1 seed, and the No. 1 player in the world. But she’s far from No. 1 in her head-to-head matchup with Svitolina: The Ukrainian leads the Australian 5-1. That record is surprising, but is also reflects how recently Barty took her place among the WTA’s elite. The tide began to turn between these two in 2019, when Barty took Svitolina to a third set in Indian Wells, and then recorded her first win over her, at the WTA Finals. By now, it would seem to be a toss-up. Svitolina is the more relentless baseliner, while Barty has the more varied attack, and can do more things to disrupt her opponents. Each woman must also feel as if she’s been living on borrowed time in Miami: Svitolina barely escaped her opener against Shelby Rogers, while Barty did the same against Kristina Kucera. With all other things seemingly equal, I’ll take the defending champ. Winner: Barty

Getty Images

At this point we know what we’re going to get from Rublev. He’s going to bash, bash, and bash some more, and he’s going to leave a trail of convincingly defeated opponents in his wake. That’s how it has gone for him so far in Miami; he has played three matches and has yet to lose more than four games in a set. With the 20-year-old Korda, we’re learning new things every time he steps on the court. And what we’ve learned has to be very encouraging for U.S. tennis fans. In his last two matches, the Floridian has brought Aslan Karatsev’s run of good form to a screeching halt, and then hung in with one of the game’s best grinders, Diego Schwartzman, before finally winning 7-5 in the third. Korda has a world-class backhand and no glaring weaknesses, and he may just be the future of American men’s tennis. But Rublev is ready to go farther in Miami right now. Winner: Rublev

If I told you one of these two had a much tougher quarterfinal, you would probably guess it was the player who had just played Naomi Osaka. But you would be wrong. While Sakkari faced little resistance from the Australian Open champion in a 6-0, 6-4 win, Andreescu was pushed to the limit and beyond by Sara Sorribes Tormo in three intense, leave-it-all-out-there sets. What does that mean for the first meeting between the Canadian and the Greek? Sakkari will likely be fresher; before the Sorribes Tormo throwdown, Andreescu had to go three to beat Garbiñe Muguruza and Amanda Anisimova as well. But while Andreescu may be physically weary, she should be mentally ready for anything. Over the last three rounds, she has reminded us of her greatest trait: When she puts her mind to winning a match, no one can stop her. Winner: Andreescu