the miami open women's final preview

So, here we are. Since the draw started shaping up, many of us anticipated this to be the final, and boy have our prayers been answered. The incoming World No 1 against the former World No 1. The battle of the Grand Slam champions. The clash of superstars.

Naomi Osaka v [2] Iga Świątek

The two have taken two very different paths to get here. For Naomi, its been a massive rebound of sorts. After a heartbreaking loss to Amanda Anisimova in the Australian Open third round and the unfortunate incident that happened the fortnight earlier in Indian Wells, the four-time Grand Slam champion has found what she has called her “home tournament” a very happy hunting ground. Meanwhile the Pole Iga Swiatek has been on a tear. Two consecutive WTA 1000 titles and a third consecutive final here in Miami. The 2020 Roland Garros champion has certainly cemented her spot at the very top of the women’s game and will take over from retired Ash Barty to become World No 1 on 4 Apr, rightfully so.

Road to the final

Round	Naomi Osaka	Iga Świątek [2]
1R	A. Sharma 63 64	BYE
2R	A. Kerber [13] 62 63	V. Golubic 62 60
3R	K. Siniakova W/O	M. Brengle 60 63
4R	A. Riske 63 64	C. Gauff [14] 63 61
QF	D. Collins [9] 62 61	P. Kvitova [28] 63 63
SF	B. Bencic [22] 46 63 64	J. Pegula [16] 62 75

Naomi Osaka has been exceptional in this tournament, almost reminiscent of her 2018 Indian Wells run. It has been a while since she’s been labelled an underdog, but it seems like she has embraced this billing very well. This lack of pressure and self-confidence is telling, hitting 46 aces (a WTA tournament record for 2022) with 18 coming from the Bencic match. Her fiery 1-2 combinations have also been paying dividends throughout the tournament, and it does really seem like she has nothing to lose in this Miami outing. For aggressive players, feeling fired up seems to be so much more important in a match and the emotion from the Japanese star after beating Olympic champion Bencic really showed how good she has been feeling on court this past fortnight. Albeit the underdog, she certainly is coming into the final in formidable shape.

The incoming World No 1, on the other hand, has wasted no time proving why she is at the top of the rankings. It seems like nothing has been stopping Iga Swiatek since her title run in Paris in the fall of 2020. She’s currently 25-3 for the year and hasn’t been beaten on her last 16 outings. In the absence of the outgoing World No 1 Barty, Swiatek has been making the most out of a more open field. Dispatching fellow top players with conviction, she has been unstoppable since her loss to Jelena Ostapenko in Dubai. Its also funny to think that even though she hasn’t been as established as some of the other top players, her presence alone may intimidate opponents across the net, and the confidence she brings to the court does not feed her opponents’ cause any better.

Looking at the bigger picture, this seems to be a rivalry that will fire up the Hologic WTA Tour for years to come. The last meeting? Well pretty irrelevant if you ask me. Their last and only meeting was in Toronto in 2019 when Osaka was then World No 1. Osaka beat Swiatek in two tight sets, but circumstances are very different presently. Swiatek is currently carrying form that I’ve only seen Ash Barty carry. Osaka, no doubt, is the trickiest customer Swiatek has faced in the past couple of weeks and does have weapons to hurt the Pole’s game. Her confidence has also been skyrocketing as said earlier, but can she pull out the game to beat such an in form Swiatek? This is certainly the sternest test Osaka has had to face since the start of the year, but Osaka is certainly prepared for it.

My prediction: Iga in two tight sets.

The true winner though? The Hologic WTA Tour.

P.S. I rushed this to only be released 45 minutes before the final starts LOL. Anyways enjoy the final!