Will the Pole sweep her next opponent off the court?
The spectacular winning streak of the designated world number one Iga Swiatek continues in Miami. The Pole, who will also be logged as the new world number one after the tournament ends due to the retirement of Ashleigh Barty, has won her last 14 singles in a row, already securing two overall WTA 1000 tournament wins in Doha and Indian Wells.
Now in Miami, the Pole could not only become only the fourth lady after Steffi Graff, Kim Clijsters and Victoria Azarenka to win the Sunshine Double. She could also celebrate a Major hat-trick. However, she will face a two-time Grand Slam winner in the quarter-finals. Nevertheless, in the run-up to the duel between Petra Kvitova and Iga Swiatek, the odds are swinging in the direction of the Pole.
In all, Iga Swiatek has dropped just nine games on her way to the last eight, sweeping her three opponents 2-0. Accordingly, there is a lot of value in Petra Kvitova’s betting against Iga Swiatek that this quarter-final will not take too long either.
After a weak start to the season, the Czech has recently improved again. However, Petra Kvitova hasn’t really won much in the last few years, which is why the tendency clearly goes in the direction of the Pole.
Petra Kvitova – Statistics & current form
Current ranking in the world rankings: 32
Position in the seedings: 28
The 32-year-old Czech Petra Kvitova has been on the WTA Tour since 2007 and can now look back on a 15-year career that has brought several major successes.
In 2011, the former world number two won the Wimbledon Championships and the WTA Finals, before she managed another Grand Slam victory in London three years later. In addition, she has won eight WTA 1000 tournaments overall.
Not in the Top 30 for the first time since 2010
Petra Kvitova has 28 singles titles to her name, although she has only won the WTA Doha 2021 in the last three years. Due to a lack of consistency in the last few years, which were marked by the pandemic, the Czech fell out of the top 30 of the WTA world rankings for the first time since 2010.
Her run in Miami is all the more surprising. After a weak start to the season with a first-round exit at the Australian Open, Kvitova won all three singles at the Miami Open 2022 and thus punched her ticket to the quarter-finals of a major tournament for the first time since the Western and Southern Open 2021.
Won only nine of the 16 singles in 2022
With the three wins, Kvitova’s record for the year has also returned to positive territory, although with nine wins compared to seven losses, it still seems to have a lot of room for improvement. What is clear is that the former world number two is a clear underdog in this quarter-final in this mixed form.
Iga Swiatek – Statistics & current form
Current ranking in the world rankings: 2
Position in the seedings: 2
The 20-year-old young Pole Iga Swiatek is breaking the sound barrier for good these days. In a WTA Tour that could well be considered leaderless due to the surprise retirement of Ashleigh Barty, she will now advance to become the new world number one.
A leap that, in view of the last few weeks, is no coincidence. Most recently, the 20-year-old won two Major tournaments in a row in Doha and Indian Wells, for which she also beat a total of four top-10 players.
Won 23 of 26 singles in 2022
Swiatek is not letting anything go in Miami either.
With three 2-0 wins, in which she surrendered just nine games in total, she played her way into the quarter-finals on the double, which will make her the first Polish world number one in a few days. She has now won 14 singles matches in a row.
In fact, the designated world number one has lost only three of her 26 completed singles matches in the whole of 2022, which means she has well and truly earned her new position as the hunted on the WTA Tour. She could also become only the fourth woman ever to secure the Sunshine Double.
53.5% of all return games won in 2022
To do so, the 2020 French Open winner must now eliminate another former Grand Slam winner in Petra Kvitova. However, Petra Kvitova’s momentum against Iga Swiatek is one of the reasons why her betting on a place in the semifinals is so good.
After all, the Pole did not only convince with a poisonous attacking game, but can also show impressive return values. Whenever her opponents offer something, the 20-year-old is there. This is also proven by the fact that she scored in 62.2% of all cases when her opponents had to come over the second serve.
Petra Kvitova – Iga Swiatek Direct comparison / H2H record
Head to head: 0:0
Never before has there been a duel between the two ladies. Consequently, there is no “head-to-head” data available that could be used in the prediction for Petra Kvitova against Iga Swiatek
Petra Kvitova – Iga Swiatek Tip
This is a match between two former Grand Slam winners, but the current momentum points to an unequal duel. Before the Miami Open, Kvitova’s form was very poor in 2022, while Swiatek has won 14 singles in a row. A circumstance that is due to her return qualities. She won a return game 53.5% of the time this year, while her own service game rarely wavered.
If the Czech offers anything on her own serve, the Polish player is likely to break early in this duel as well, after which the match could be decided just as quickly.