Tennis Betting Tips: Cirstea to KO Coco in Miami

The first week of the 2026 Miami Open was heavily affected by the weather, but all looks well heading into the tournament's second week as we enter the round-of-16 stage.

World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz may have been knocked out in the men's third round on Sunday, but there are still plenty of big-hitters to follow, particularly on the women's side. That's the focus for Monday's Tennis Betting Tips, which you can check out below.

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Match Betting - Sorana Cirstea to beat Cori 'Coco' Gauff @ 13/8

Romanian No. 1 Sorana Cirstea is in her 20th and final season on the WTA Tour, having announced her retirement last December. If she keeps on going as she is, though, she may have a dilemma over whether to reverse that decision or not.

The 35-year-old has won 18 of her first 22 matches this calendar year, winning a 250 title on home turf in Cluj last month without dropping a set, which included a 6-0, 6-2 success over British No. 1 Emma Raducanu in the final.

Cirstea's first two defeats of 2026 came against two top-20 players, Naomi Osaka (3-6, 6-4, 2-6) and World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka (3-6, 3-6) in the Australian Open and Brisbane Open, respectively, but she has two victories - and a defeat - to her name against Linda Noskova, including a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 win over the World No. 13 in the Miami Open second round last Friday.

The World No. 35 then beat World No. 19 Elise Mertens in the following round on Saturday, defeating the Belgian No. 1 in straight sets (6-3, 6-2) to set up a round-of-16 tie with World No. 4 and two-time Grand Slam champion Coco Gauff, who has fought back from a set down in each of her opening Miami Open 2026 matches against Elisabetta Cocciaretto (3-6, 6-4, 6-3) and Alycia Parks (3-6, 6-0, 6-1).

While the American No. 1 can be applauded for her powers of recovery, you get the feeling that better and more experienced players than Cocciaretto and Parks, ranked 44th and 105th, respectively, would have punished her and sent the 22-year-old packing from the tournament.

Tennis Odds

Gauff's struggles aren't isolated to the Miami Open, though, as she lost her second match of the calendar year, in the United Cup, to 48th-ranked Jessica Bouzas Maneiro (1-6, 7-6, 0-6) on January 5, and suffered another embarrassing defeat to Cocciaretto (4-6, 2-6) in the Doha Open on February 10.

She's also suffered a couple of defeats to Elina Svitolina, at the Australian Open (1-6, 2-6) and Dubai Open (4-6, 7-6, 4-6), and was forced to retire through injury at Indian Wells when she was 2-6, 0-2 down to Alexandra Eala.

Double faults have plagued Gauff's 2026 so far, with 19 recorded across just two matches at the Miami Open, in stark contrast to Cirstea's nine across three.

Cirstea has been serving well all year, and if she can do so again on Monday against Gauff, I think the values lies in backing the Romanian to score her biggest win of 2026.

Game Handicap - Qinwen Zheng +4.5 vs Aryna Sabalenka @ 11/8

Defending champion Sabalenka hasn't dropped a set at this year's Miami Open, but the 27-year-old has been made to work for her wins, overcoming Americans Ann Li (7-6, 6-4) and Caty McNally (6-4, 6-2), ranked 39th and 72nd, respectively.

Still, we're still in March and Sabalenka has lost just one of her 20 matches this calendar year, to Elena Rybakina (4-6, 6-4, 4-6) in the Australian Open Final, picking up titles at in Brisbane and Indian Wells, and she hasn't dropped a set to an opponent not named Rybakina.

On Monday, she takes on Chinese No. 1 Qinwen Zheng, who achieved a career-high ranking of World No. 4 in June 2025 before ending the year 24th after completing just one full match post-Wimbledon due to injury.

The 23-year-old made her comeback at the Doha Open in February, battling past Sofia Kenin (4-6, 6-1, 6-2) and Parks (7-6, 3-6, 6-2) before being edged out by World No. 2 Rybakina (6-4, 2-6, 5-7).

After a disappointing opening-round defeat to Antonia Ruzic (4-6, 5-7) at Indian Wells, Zheng started with a bang in Miami, beating Sloane Stephens (6-3, 6-2) in an hour and 21 minutes before coming from behind to down last year's Australian Open champion Madison Keys (4-6, 6-2, 6-4) in front of the American's home crowd on Sunday.

Zheng's serving got better as the match progressed, with two, four and five aces recorded in the first, second and third set, respectively.

She faces a much tougher test than an out-of-form Keys on Tuesday, though, with Sabalenka in deadly form, and having lost seven of the eight matches she has played against the Belarusian, the odds are stacked against her in this round-of-16 tie.

Still, I think Zheng possesses the qualities to make this a competitive affair, and even if she fails to win a set, I think with some solid serving, she can protect a +4.5 handicap, as Li did last Saturday.

Find more Tennis Betting Tips here at Betfred Insights