Events / Barry Millns / 25 March 2009 /

Barry Millns tells us to what extent the Williams sisters "own" Miami and why it is Serena that your money should be on this week.

Normal service is resumed this week on the women's tour as the Williams sisters resume competition in Miami after opting out of Indian Wells. It is more than likely one of them will once again lift the trophy, as they have won it eight times between them in the last 11 years and world No.1 Serena (currently trading as the [3.25] favourite), will be bidding for her second hat-trick.

The reigning US Open and Australian Open champion, with a 16-2 win/loss tally so far in 2009, has a remarkable 47-5 record at Crandon Park. Her sister Venus [5.8], Martina Hingis and Jennifer Capriati (the last two have of course hung up their rackets already) are the only players who have ever beaten her there and so it is likely that only an extra-special performance is going to stop her from picking up the winner's cheque for a sixth time.

Another 96-player draw, all 32 seeds enjoy first round byes, so Serena awaits the winner of a match between two 19-year-olds, Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland and US wildcard Alexa Glatch. The highest ranked player she could face before the quarter-finals is another 19 year-old, Alize Cornet ([300]).

On current form the player most likely to face Serena in the last eight is the new Indian Wells champion and sixth seed Vera Zvonareva ([15.0]). But the Russian, who reached last year's semi-finals, has lost five of her six encounters with Serena and it will be interesting to see how well she can follow up the biggest success of her career so far.

There will be no all-Williams final because fifth seed Venus is drawn in the same half. It is eight years since she last took the title but back-to-back triumphs in Dubai and Acapulco mean she has an 11-1 start to this season and will be bidding for a hat-trick of her own.

The highest ranked players standing between Venus and a possible semi-final with her sister are the tenth seed Agnieska Radwanska ([70.0]) and her projected quarter-final adversary, third seed Jelena Jankovic ([15.5]). But Jankovic, who was last year's runner's up, has made a poor start to 2009 reaching only one semi-final at the Paris Indoor tournament and appearing very down on herself after her early exit from Indian Wells.

Mind you, she was not alone as nine of the Top 16 seeds in Indian Wells lost their opening matches there. They also included the Russians Elena Dementieva ([9.4]) and Svetlana Kuznetsova ([40.0]) who are seeded to meet in the last eight in Miami.

Dementieva, runner-up to Serena in 2004, has won more matches than any other player so far this year with a 21-4 record, including titles in Auckland and Sydney. But don't count on 2006 champion Kuznetsova who is only 7-3 for the season.

The 12th and 13th seeds Marion Bartoli ([120.0]) and Caroline Wozniacki ([50.0]) may have more of a say than Kuznetsova in terms of who advances from that quarter of the draw. But it is the bottom quarter which could produce some of the most competitive matches of the week.

If Dinara Safina had reached the final in California last week, she would have become world No.1 for the first time. The 22-year-old Russian fell short, but as the second seed in Miami this week, she might just achieve her dream as she is only defending quarterfinal points from last year and is a mere 311 points behind Serena Williams, who must recapture the title to keep the same tally she currently has.

Safina's opening opponent will be either Frenchwoman Mathilde Johansson ([1000.0]) or Indian wildcard Sania Mirza ([1000]). But if Safina gets through either of them she may have to beat the likes of Flavia Pennetta ([110.0]), Amelie Mauresmo ([80.0]) and Sybille Bammer ([400.0]) just to reach the quarters.

Should she get that far then Safina could have to face former world No.1 and Indian Wells runner-up Ana Ivanovic ([12.5]), new Top 10 player Victoria Azarenka ([15.5]) who made the semis last week and has two titles already this year, or possibly her un-seeded teenage compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova ([150]). The 17 year-old is getting a taste for giant-killing after knocking out the likes of Jankovic and Radwanska in Indian Wells en route to the semi-finals and a breakthrough into the world's Top 30.

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