The world’s top men and women gather to compete in Miami for the Sony Ericsson Open, which will be one of the hottest non Grand Slam tournaments of 2011. The event will immediately be played after BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California and Scheduled to begin on March 21. Because of two consecutive major events in North America, that’s why March has always been an important month on the Calendar.

Tennis Odds for this event have not yet been posted in various sports betting sites.

About the Sony Ericsson Open, the preceding event at Indian Wells has traditionally provided good insight. It is early to pick favorites for Miami’s tournament however, since Indian Wells has yet to be played. For the hard court tournaments in North America, the recent events in Asia and South America provide the most accurate predictions.

In late February, the number three player in the world Vera Zvonareva defeated the world’s No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in Doha, Qatar. With seeds corresponding to their current world rankings, it’s most likely that both of them will enter the Sony Ericsson draw.

As the second seed, defending Champion Kim Clijsters comes into Crandon Park. In the final, last year, she overpowered Venus Williams 6-2 6-1. This year, the runner up will make a comeback, as the sixth seed.

Several other less known players who are coming off hot streaks in late February are to watch out for. While at the same time Anastasia Pavluchenkova raised the trophy in Monterey, Mexico, Gisela Dulko claimed the title in Acapulco, Mexico. Jelena Dokic won the event in Malaysia. If Dokic will even play, unless she competes at the qualifying rounds, though it is uncertain.

Even though Victoria Azarenka had a poor February, losing early in Dubai and Doha, the 2009 Champion comes into Miami as the ninth seed. Samantha Stosur, Francesca Schiavone, Li Na, and Jelena Jankovic are the other top ten seeds, who are possible “dark horses” which can be unpredictable at big events.

BNP Paribas · Jelena Jankovic · Kim Clijsters · Sony Ericsson Open · sports betting

The wind was once again a major factor that significantly influenced the level of play and perhaps some of the outcomes. For most of the day, there were wind gusts between 25 and 30 miles per hour. The wind was also the strongest on Arthur Ashe Stadium, where all of the important singles matches were played.

The first singles match on Ashe Stadium was a quarterfinal between Russian Vera Zvonareva and Estonian Kaia Kanepi. Looking for a first time appearance in the semifinals, both players faced not just the wind but also nerves. The big hitting Estonian struggled with the wind and had 60 unforced errors while the Russian only had 28 unforced errors. Zvonareva was more steady and eventually won the match 6-3 7-5, with a very tough second set that lasted for more than 70 minutes.

Novak Djokovic comfortably defeated the struggling Frenchman Gael Monfils 7-6(2) 6-1 6-2 in the first men’s quarterfinal match of the day.

In the evening session, first seed Caroline Wozniacki took out Dominika Cibulkova 6-2 7-5 in the second women’s quarterfinal match of the day. Standing barely 5’3” tall, Cibulkova packed quite a big punch for her small stature, and it seemed that the match would go to three sets after she had chances to take the second set to a tiebreak. The wind was really strong as both players often had to toss and catch the ball several times before finally serving it. Flying paper, towels, and other debris also interrupted play several times throughout the match.

Roger Federer closed out the evening session in a highly anticipated match that ended rather routinely. Federer took out Robin Soderling 6-4 6-4 7-5 to advanced to the semifinal. Surprisingly, Federer’s serve was much more effective than serve of the big swinging Swede. In fact, Federer hit 43 unreturned serves while Soderling served 22 unreturned serves.

Day 11

The first quarterfinal match between Mikhail Youzhny and Stanislas Wawrinka was a real battle that tested each player’s mental and physical toughness. The match was dead even, as both players each won 154 points. However, after four intense hours, the Russian Youzhny celebrated with a 3-6 7-6(7) 3-6 6-3 6-3 victory to advance to his second career U.S. Open semifinal.

In the second men’s quarterfinal match, Rafael Nadal defeated fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 7-5 6-3 6-4 in a match that never seemed like a close contest.

Day 12

This day only featured the women’s semifinal matches. Vera Zvonareva upset last year’s runner up Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 6-3. Wozniacki made careless and uncharacteristic mistakes on important points, which eventually cost her the match. Zvonareva advanced to her second consecutive Grand Slam final, after reaching Wimbledon back in July.

Defending champion Kim Clijsters, sports betting fans favorite, defeated Venus Williams in a close encounter that ended with a 4-6 7-6(2) 6-4 score. Clijsters showed some real clutch in the third set with a lob winner to take a 5-4 lead and then a backhand winner on match point.

Novak Djokovic · Rafael Nadal · Robin Soderling · sports betting