US Open: Garbine Muguruza vs. Victoria Azarenka 9/3/21 Tennis Prediction

Ninth seeded Spaniard Garbine Muguruza will face Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the Third Round of the 2021 US Open. The match is scheduled to take place at 12:00pm EST.

Two former world number ones will do battle with a spot in the Round of 16 here at the 2021 US Open up for grabs. Both women have started strongly here in New York and will be eager to get the win here. Will it be last year’s Finalist Victoria Azarenka winning? Or will the Spaniard win and advance to the Round of 16 here for only the second time in his career?

Garbine Muguruza is the 9th seed here at the 2021 US Open and is currently ranked #10 on the WTA Tour. The Spanish star had a very strong start to the season, winning a title in Dubai and reaching two Finals. Since then she has been relatively poor and has largely struggled to put wins together. When she is not confident she tends to fall apart and lose matches that she shouldn’t, and that seemed to be the case earlier. She has started solidly so far here in New York with straight sets wins over Andrea Petkovic and Donna Vekic but she will have to improve if she is to defeat her next opponent Victoria Azarenka.

Victoria Azarenka is seeded #18th here at the 2021 US Open and is currently ranked #19 in the world. The Belarusian is a former world number one and is one of the most experienced players on the WTA Tour. Last year she lost a heartbreaking Final here to Naomi Osaka, winning the first set and being close to victory before the Japanese star came back. Like her opponent Garbine Muguruza she has largely been poor this season, but found some form at the right time in Montreal, where she reached the Quarters. Straight sets wins over Jessica Paolini and Tereza Martincova will have helped her gain some much needed confidence but she will have to be better if she wants to advance here.

This is the fifth time that they are playing each other on the WTA Tour, winning two matches each. Both women are similar players in that they are baseline players that rely on their clean hitting and powerful strokes to control matches. Regardless of the outcome this is sure to be a highly entertaining match between two former number ones and it is not one that tennis fans will want to miss. It really can go either way but I am going with Azarenka here. She has been in better form than Garbine Muguruza, and has had a lot of success here in her career. It will definitely be a close one, but Azarenka will win and advance to the Round of 16 here at the 2021 US Open.