This article is part of our Tennis Picks series.
The Miami Open rolls on Friday with second-round matches in both the men's and women's draws. All the seeds playing Friday will be seeing their first action of the tournament, as they had first-round byes while unseeded players had to win a main draw match to get to this point. Some of the top men's seeds who have been prone to upset losses this year could be in trouble again, while two of the biggest risers on the WTA Tour so far in 2023 are poised to add to their strong seasons. All Tennis Odds & Lines are taken from DraftKings Sportsbook, but you can sometimes find more favorable odds on some of these matches by checking mobile sportsbooks such as FanDuel Sportsbook, BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, or any of the other best sports betting sites. We offer exclusive sign-up bonuses for some of those sportsbooks, as well as specific bonuses for users located in Massachusetts, where online sports betting recently went live.
All matches at the Miami Open are best of three sets, which is the case for all ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 level tournaments. A mix of players' previous hard court results, recent form and stylistic matchups can help pinpoint intriguing betting opportunities, both among favorites likely to cruise to victory and underdogs ready to pull off upsets. The aforementioned underdogs are highlighted in the Upset Alert section, the Lock It In section covers players who can safely be considered overwhelming favorites, while the Value Bets section recommends enticing options in matchups that are considered closer to toss-ups.
Miami Open Picks: Upset Alert
Ilya Ivashka (+195) vs. Casper Ruud
Ruud's off to a rough start in 2023 after overachieving last year with a pair of Grand Slam finals. His level has dropped, and he's consistently facing his opponents' best tennis, which is brought out when they see a realistic opportunity to beat a top-five player. Ruud's 4-5 start to the season includes three losses to players ranked outside the top 70, so it wouldn't be all that unexpected at this point if the 80th-ranked Ivashka got the better of him. Ivashka's coming off a comprehensive 6-2, 6-1 win over Daniel Altmaier, in which the Belarusian didn't face a break point.
Marton Fucsovics (+195) vs. Holger Rune
Like Ruud, Rune's a top-10 player who has suffered some losses to players ranked well below that. Rune broke through with the Paris Masters title indoors last year, but the 19-year-old Dane is still learning to master the elements outdoors, as he's 33-10 indoors and 29-34 outdoors in his young career. His latest outdoor loss came to 100th-ranked Stan Wawrinka in Indian Wells, and while Rune pushed it to 7-5 in the third, he seemed bothered physically and was hitting his ground strokes a few miles per hour weaker than normal. If he fails to regain his usual pace of shot, Rune will struggle against Fucsovics, who is coming off a Round of 16 result at Indian Wells, which included wins over J.J. Wolf and Alex de Minaur before he lost to Taylor Fritz.
Honorable Mention
Taro Daniel (+370) vs. Alexander Zverev
Miami Open Odds: Lock It In
Karolina Muchova (-525) vs. Lin Zhu
Muchova continues to mow down the competition, and it wouldn't be surprising to see her back up in the top 20 soon, now that she's finally healthy. She's currently ranked 55th and climbing fast. Muchova's 10-1 in her last 11 matches played, and the one loss came 6-4 in the third set at Indian Wells against eventual champion Elena Rybakina. Muchova had to play qualifying here, and between two qualifying matches and her first round, she has lost just eight games in six sets. She should continue taking care of business against the 40th-ranked Zhu, who has cooled down after a hot start to 2023. Zhu's just 3-3 in her last three tournaments, with no top-70 wins over that span and two losses to players ranked outside the top 90.
Donna Vekic (-425) vs. Madison Brengle
Even after crashing out early at Indian Wells, Vekic is still off to one of the fastest starts on tour, with a 14-3 record that includes a hard-court title in Monterrey and a quarterfinal run at the Australian Open. She has raised her game under the coaching of Pam Shriver and should simply overpower the 86th-ranked Brengle, who doesn't have the weapons to dictate play against Vekic. Brengle capitalized on a slew of Amanda Anisimova unforced errors to get to the second round, but Vekic has been just as powerful off the ground and far less erratic than Anisimova in 2023.
Honorable Mention
Tommy Paul (-600) vs. Marc-Andrea Huesler
Miami Open Predictions: Value Bets
Emil Ruusuvuori (-130) vs. Roberto Bautista Agut
Ruusuvuori just beat Bautista Agut 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the second round of Indian Wells two weeks ago, and the 23-year-old Finn proceeded to push Alexander Zverev to 7-5 in the third set in his following match. While Ruusuvuori has been in fine form lately as he tries to crack the top 50, RBA is just 1-5 in his last six matches. Age may be starting to catch up to the 34-year-old Spaniard, who is on the verge of dropping out of the top 30 at No. 28.
Erika Andreeva (+125) vs. Shuai Zhang
Andreeva's starting to establish herself on the WTA Tour. The 2021 junior French Open runner-up avenged a recent loss to fellow 18-year-old Ashlyn Krueger with a 7-5, 6-2 first-round win here, and Andreeva has a great opportunity to reach the third round at a WTA 1000 event for the first time against the struggling world No. 27. Zhang missed time with an illness recently and retired at 3-0 down against Rebecca Peterson in her first match at Indian Wells upon making her return earlier this month. That match marked Zhang's fifth consecutive defeat, and she has won only three sets across her last seven matches.
Honorable Mention
Ugo Humbert (-115) vs. Miomir Kecmanovic
