Halep Takes On Stephens In Miami Quarter-Finals

Simona Halep has been drawn against Sloane Stephens in the quarter-finals of the Miami Masters. Their tie will take place tomorrow and will be the fifth encounter between the two women. Whilst their head-to-head record is currently tied two matches a-piece, Stephens has a 2-0 record on those ties played out on hard court surfaces.

The American managed to take down Halep in the first round of the Australian Open in 2013, the now world number three only managing to secure two games in the entire match. The first round encounter ended 6-1, 6-1. Stephens would lose out to Victoria Azarenka in the semi-finals of this Grand Slam (6-1, 6-4). Halep was unable to exact her revenge in Australia`s Hobart tournament of the same year, Stephens running out the 6-4 winner in the first set before taking the second set with a bagel victory. A massive 66/1, available at both boylesports and william hill, says that the 22-year-old will be able to record another six games to nil victory over the Constanta-born star in the second set. Otherwise, her third ever straight sets victory over Halep on hard can be backed at 11/2 at both boylesports and betfair. A two sets to one win for Stephens can be picked up at 6/1 at 32red, 888sport and unibet.

Indeed, it is Halep, who has a superior world ranking and performance record this year, who is the favourite to progress through to the semi-finals of the Miami Masters. The 23-year-old can be backed at 38/100 at sportingbet to win by any means whilst backing the favourite to win in straight sets will see you receive a price of 39/40 with the same bookmaker. Sixteen-to-five (888sport, unibet) says the 11-time WTA title winner will take the match by two sets to one.

Otherwise, both Betvictor and Skybet have the best price on Stephens winning the match by any means. This best price currently stands at 5/2.

By reaching the quarter-final stage of this tournament, Halep has already surpassed her best ever Miami Masters finishes. These best performances had previously been recorded in 2012 and 2013 when she reached the competition`s third round in consecutive years. Both Carla Suarez Navarro (6-7, 6-3, 6-3) and Nadia Petrov (6-3, 6-2) were dispatched in 2012 before the now world number three was seen off by Marion Bartoli (6-4, 7-6). In 2013, Sabine Lisicki (6-2, 3-6, 7-5) and Tamira Paszek (6-1, 6-7, 7-5) were both taken down before Halep came unstuck against Italy`s Sara Errani, winning just one game in the 6-1, 6-0 defeat.

Already a three-time WTA title winner this year, the 2015 renewal of the Miami Masters has seen her get the better of Nicole Vaidisova (6-4, 2-6, 6-1), Camila Giorgi (6-4, 7-5) and Flavia Pennetta (6-3, 7-5). The Romanian`s seeded status saw her receive a bye into the tournament`s second round. Boylesports` 12/1 says that she will win the second set by a score of seven games to five for the third successive time tomorrow.

The withdrawal of fellow American Venus Williams from the 2013 tournament saw Stephens record her best ever finish, reaching the fourth round. Also receiving a bye into the second round, the Florida-born star had previously seen off Olga Govortsova (0-6, 6-4, 6-4) before bypassing Williams in the third round. The then 16th seed lost out to Agnieszka Radwanska in the fourth stage (6-4, 2-6, 0-6).

Having lost the first set against Govortsova but winning the tie and beating Radwanska in set one and losing, perhaps there could be value in betting on a similar sort of outcome this time round. william hill`s 19/2 says that Stephens will have to bounce back to win the tie after losing the first set whilst 11/2 (Betvictor, sportingbet) says that Halep will lose the first set but win the match.

In this year`s Miami Masters, Stephens has beaten all of Yanina Wickmayer (6-1, 6-3), Madison Keys (6-4, 6-2), Johanna Larsson (6-4, 6-4) and Belinda Belcic (6-4, 7-6). She is yet to drop a set.

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01/04/2015     © Frixo 2024