Miami Open 2024 Prediction and Betting Tips: Best Bets From Florida

The big events keep on coming on the ATP and WTA Tours with the Miami Open set to get underway at Hard Rock Stadium this midweek.

This will be the second leg of the Sunshine Double series following last week's Indian Wells Open and many of the world's best players from the men's and women's game will be in action for what is both an ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 event.

Rybakina has unfinished business in Miami

World number four Elena Rybakina was unable to defend her Indian Wells title last week due to illness, but provided she has sufficiently recovered, she should come into this event refreshed and with unfinished business after she was beaten in last year's Miami Open final by Petra Kvitova.

It has been a good start to the year for Rybakina as she has added two more WTA Tour titles to her list of accolades, triumphing at the Brisbane International and Abu Dhabi Open, with both successes coming on hard courts.

The Kazakh ace also reached the final of February's Qatar Open where she found only world number one Iga Swiatek too strong.

Swiatek, who was also crowned champion at Indian Wells, is many peoples' one to beat in Miami, but crucially perhaps for Rybakina, she is on the opposite side of the draw to the Pole.

Rybakina's main opposition in the bottom half of the draw should prove to be world number two Aryna Sabalenka, but her form has been patchy since winning the Australian Open in January and she has never been beyond the quarter-finals in Miami.

A potential showdown with Sabalenka will not come until the semi-finals and Rybakina could face challenges before then, with the likes of Jelena Ostapenko and Indian Wells finalist Maria Sakkari on her side of the draw, but the 24-year-old is a match for anyone on her day and could take some stopping if she can find her feet early.

Fritz to provide home success in men's draw

The big news from the men's draw is that world number one Novak Djokovic will not be competing, leaving Carlos Alcaraz, who is fresh from defending his title at Indian Wells, as the top seed.

Alcaraz ended Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner's unbeaten start to 2024 in the semi-finals at Indian Wells before beating Daniil Medvedev in the final for the second successive year.

There is certainly plenty of momentum on the side of Alcaraz, but no male player has won at Indian Wells and Miami in the same year since Roger Federer in 2017 and it may be difficult for the Spaniard to follow up.

It will be interesting to see how Sinner responds from his first setback of the year and Medvedev is the defending champion in Miami, but there are other contenders too, including Taylor Fritz, who could lead the American charge in Florida.

Fritz is a hard-court specialist who triumphed at Indian Wells in 2022 and has also enjoyed a strong start to this season, winning last month's Delray Beach Open and reaching the Australian Open quarter-finals where he took a set off Djokovic before being edged out.

The Californian made it to the quarter-finals in Miami last year but he could go beyond that this time around as he goes in search of his second ATP Masters 1000 title.