WTA Miami Open, 3rd Round Preview for Sunday: Timea Babos v Naomi Osaka

In a section of that draw that has lost both seeds, Timea Babos and Naomi Osaka will be battling for a spot in the last 16 of the Miami Open. This match-up is strangely compelling to me so i’m going all out with a preview! 😀

Babos enjoyed a big win on Friday, taking out last week’s Indian Wells semi-finalist, Karolina Pliskova, 5-7 6-2 7-6(0). Babos failed on three occasions to wrap up the match, unable to serve it out at *5-2, *5-4 and *6-5. However, in a rather strange twist, Babos then scored a tiebreak bagel to record her first ever win over Pliskova in four matches.

Babos has had an encouraging year up till now, reaching the semi-finals of Shenzhen, the quarter-finals of St. Petersburg and the third round in Doha. Her year stalled somewhat in the last two tournaments with first round losses in Monterrey (to Polona Hercog, 3-6 2-6) and Indian…