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Mixed martial arts Thursday Tennis Best Bet: WTA Miami, Qinwen Zheng vs Irina Begu
Qinwen Zheng vs Irina Begu Best Bet: Thursday, March 23rd
Well, a much better day on Wednesday as Leylah Fernandez recovered a double break in the opening set and another two individual breaks in the second to take out Lesia Tsurenko in straight sets. Some much-needed good fortune after a slew of close losses lately.
Onto Thursday, where it’ll be the matchup between Qinwen Zheng and Irina Begu that we will take a look at from Miami.
In this article:
Qinwen Zheng vs Irina Begu Preview
March 22nd, 15:00 (UK Time)
It was a much-needed win in the opening round of play for the Romanian veteran. Prior to her win over the up-and-coming Alexandra Eala, Begu had dropped her last eight sets on the trot. All on a variety of hard courts as well. Some indoors, others on slow outdoor courts, and others on quicker outdoor courts. Conditions didn’t seem to matter, her form was just poor.
Even that opening round victory was far from convincing. After winning six games in a row to take the opening set, she found herself down 1-5 in the second set and on the verge of a decider, before the teenaged Eala ran out of gas.
Now taking on Zheng, Begu is taking on a whole different opponent. Where she matched up perfectly with an underpowered youngster thanks to her ability to grind, experience at the top level and strong first serve, she’ll have to take on someone who can absolutely bludgeon the tennis ball from the baseline.
The service edge is now squarely in the corner of the 20-year-old, as is the edge when it comes to being able to dictate from the baseline. Zheng will surely end up with more unforced errors when all is said and done, but she’s also likely to have far more winners to her name.
Qinwen Zheng vs Irina Begu Best Bet
The primary concern with Zheng here is that she skipped Indian Wells before returning to action this week.
That’s always at least a slight concern, even if it was more of a precautionary move.
Regardless, a handicap at -3.5 games in the 1.86 range is still a tad low for me in this one, and I’m happy to oppose the form of Begu with a talented, big hitting top-25 player in Zheng.
The stake will be reduced by a point or two over those aforementioned injury concerns, but I’ll happily back her to win this by at least four games nonetheless.
- Selection: Zheng -3.5 Games
- Best Odds: 1.86 (Pinnacle)
- Stakes: 3/10
Odds as at 1:30 am on March 23rd, 2023. Odds may now differ.
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