The Picks in Miami: Thursday, March 23

Victoria Azarenka
Mal Taam/MALTphoto

Marcos Giron vs Cristian Garin
The American Giron can move up the rankings. The former UCLA college champion took himself a while to grow, on court, and now he is ranked No. 71. But that is not enough. While he does hits the shots, constantly, but he is not more aggressive, and touch on the lines. To be able to beat Garin, he has to not only to be patient, but he has to move forward. The South American Garin has had a difficult year, but at Indian Wells he qualified and then he upset the No. 4 Casper Ruud. That was a huge win, but he isn’t quite there,yet. On the hard courts, Giron will win in three long sets

Alex Molcan vs Jordan Thompson
Last year, Molcan was coming around. The Slovakian started going up the ladder, but over the past few months, he dropped, struggling. Now he is ranked top 56. He can be very patient, or when he gets the opportunity, he can swing very hard. He also said that he can win a huge tournament. He is still waiting.

Thompson qualified, which means that he is playing pretty well, but the 28-year-old have lost to many different players. He did have a terrific win, at IW, upsetting Stefanos Tsitsipas. However, he lost in the next round, so the No. 83 is not consistent. Molcan will out-hit Thompson, in the third set, with some very hard forehands.

Victoria Azarenka vs Camila Giorgi
Where is the former two-time Grand Slam champion Azarenka going? To play great, day after day, or stay there for a few days, and then, she will go down, unsure that she can exactly do. She has to prove it once again.

The Italian Giorgi has had a decent season, winning Mexico in February. Yes, she has been there for a long time, but now, even though she can be steady, but to beat most anyone, she has to jump on the ball ASAP. Azarenka did reach the semis at the 2023 Australian Open, so when she is there and healthy, then this incredible player can hit so many excellent winners. But, after Melbourne, she lost early, a lot. In her first match, it appears that she is heathy enough and push Giorgi outside of the wall. Azarenka will win in two sets.

Wednesday’s predictions

Correct: Bianca Andreescu  vs. Emma Raducanu
Correct: Sloane Stephens vs. Shelby Rogers
Andy Murray vs. Dusan Lajovin