Miami open preview and tennis best bets for Thursday, March 28
The second half of the “Sunshine Double” is the Miami Open, which takes place at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida over the next few days. This tournament, much like the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, is one of the biggest non-majors of the year. So, even though Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal aren’t in the Miami Open field, this is still a loaded event for both the men and the women. With that in mind, we’ll have you covered with tennis best bets throughout. That continues with picks for Thursday, March 28th. Keep reading for some of my favorite plays of the day, but make sure you check the Pro Picks page for more. I like to see how the odds move throughout the day and I tend to add a few picks each day.
MORE: Check out our Pro Picks page for everything our experts are betting!
2024 Results: 172-189 (+14.28 units)
Grigor Dimitrov vs. Carlos Alcaraz
Dimitrov beat Alcaraz when the two met in Shanghai last year. However, that match came during a stretch in which Alcaraz wasn’t himself. The Spaniard really struggled to find consistency after Wimbledon last year, and it seemed like he was completely worn out. But he’s refreshed now, and he’s actually playing the best tennis of his career. Alcaraz won Indian Wells last week and currently has career-highs in both hold percentage and break percentage. He has also displayed more patience from the baseline. All of that will make him extremely difficult to beat moving forward.
Alcaraz had also beaten Dimitrov in straight sets in their previous three matches, so this matchup has mostly been very kind to the Spaniard. And Dimitrov comes into this match after having played a physical three-set match against Hubert Hurkacz last round. If he is dealing with any sort of fatigue, Alcaraz will run him off the court. But even at full strength, it’s going to be hard for Dimitrov to make Alcaraz sweat here. The best thing Dimitrov can do is pepper Alcaraz with slice shots to try and draw some mistakes out of him. But Alcaraz has been avoiding those errors lately.
Bet: Alcaraz -1.5 Sets (-150 – 1.5 units)
Added Plays
PARLAY: Elena Rybakina ML vs. Victoria Azarenka + Danielle Collins ML vs. Ekaterina Alexandrova (+116 – 1.5 units)
Wednesday’s Plays
Danielle Collins -2.5 Games (-136) vs. Caroline Garcia
Tomas Machac Over 7.5 Games Won (-126 – 1.5 units) vs. Jannik Sinner