Miami day 3: Slump queens in action

Schedule:

Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Hsieh Su-Wei
Serena Williams vs. Flavia Pennetta
Venus Williams vs. Kimiko Date-Krumm
Kiki Bertens vs. Li Na
Peng Shuai vs. Petra Kvitova
Caroline Wozniacki vs. Karolina Pliskova
Marion Bartoli vs. Andrea Petkovic
Olga Govortsova vs. Sloane Stephens
Kristina Mladenovic vs. Dominika Cibulkova
Varvara Lepchenko vs. Irina-Camelia Begu
Lucie Safarova vs. Romina Oprandi
Ajla Tomljanovic vs. Julia Goerges
Ayumi Morita vs. Yanina Wickmayer
Kirsten Flipkens vs. Stefanie Voegele
Garbine Muguruza vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Magdalena Rybarikova vs. Mona Barthel

Match focus:

Marion Bartoli vs. Andrea Petkovic

Marion Bartoli isn't playing well this year even though she isn't exactly slumping. She's not living up to her seeding and in cases where she faces a higher ranked player, she gets outplayed easily. This spells hope for comeback queen, Andrea Petkovic. The German disposed of Jovanovski easily in her previous round and seems to be healthy again. She should be able to challenge a sub-par Bartoli.

Pick: Petkovic in 3 sets

Olga Govortsova vs. Sloane Stephens

Doing basically nothing since her Australian Open breakthrough, Sloane Stephens gets the perfect draw to get the ball rolling again. Govortsova is a typical ball-basher with no plan B; so Stephens should be able to push her around the court and induce some errors from the Belarussian. If Stephens manages to lose this match, I smell big trouble coming from this hyped up player.

Pick: Stephens in 2 sets

Lucie Safarova vs. Romina Oprandi

Lucie Safarova and variety do not mix. Which is why Safarova's woes will continue with the ever tricky opponent like Oprandi. Romina's drop shots and slices will drive Lucie nuts as she commits tons of unforced errors off them. The nightmare year for the Czech looks set to continue as she's handled another unfavourable draw.

Pick: Oprandi in 2 sets

Garbine Muguruza vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Another player in a puzzling slump is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. In a wide open field of Kuala Lumpur, she collapsed spectacularly and lost a chance to capture a title and boost her confidence. Garbine Muguruza is a handy player who reached the 4th round last year, so the Russian will have her hands full. Look out for another choke from the Russian as she struggles to close out sets.

Pick: Muguruza in 2 tight sets

Sure win bets: Serena Williams, Julia Goerges, Kirsten Flipkens
Upset alert: Lucie Safarova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Marion Bartoli