Belinda Bencic vs Dayana Yastremska Tips, Prediction & Live Stream - Bencic to continue great form in Miami opener

Returning from maternity leave, Bencic has been on fire throughout 2025, coming into this tournament with a brilliant 17-5 record on the season - and her last three defeats have been against top 10 players. The Swiss is playing top 10 level tennis herself and it seems only a matter of time before Bencic returns to the upper echelons of the game (she's already back up to No. 45 after ending 2024 outside the top 900).

This looks like a good matchup for Bencic to get off the mark in Miami. Yastremska is very hit or miss and she's missed more often than not in this H2H, losing three of her four previous meetings with Bencic. Yastremska has also struggled to produce her best tennis in Miami, coming into this event with an average 2-2 record at the tournament. Bencic has the ability to redirect and absorb the pace coming off Yastremska's racquet and should be able to gradually grind the Ukrainian into submission with extended baseline rallies. I'm backing Bencic to cover a -4.5 games line in victory.

As mentioned, Bencic leads 3-1, but they pair haven't squared off since the Swiss prevailed 7-6 6-3 in the 2019 Hobart quarter-finals.

It's been an absolutely stellar comeback from Bencic in 2025, with the Swiss rising over 800 spots in the rankings across the first three months of the season.

After returning late last year from maternity leave, Bencic obviously enjoyed a fruitful off-season, because she's been playing top 10 level tennis at various stages already in 2025.

Following a run to the fourth round of the Australian Open (lost in three sets to Coco Gauff), Bencic swiftly returned to the champions corner in Abu Dhabi, surging to the title with victories over the likes of Elena Rybakina, Marketa Vondrousova and Ashlyn Krueger.

Bencic went out to Emma Navarro in Dubai, but was extremely impressive again in Indian Wells, avenging her Australian Open defeat to Gauff on her way to the quarter-finals, where she was upstaged by AO champion Madison Keys.

The 28-year-old's best result in Miami was a run to the semi-finals in 2022.

It's been a fairly solid season from Yastremska to date, but her ranking has fallen to No. 42 after she failed to defend her Australian Open semi-final points from 2024.

Regardless, Yastremska has compiled a 12-7 record so far in 2025, reaching the quarter-finals of Hobart and the third round of the Australian Open before finishing runner-up indoors in Linz.

Yastremska suffered an opening round exit in Doha to Peyton Stearns and has only lost to Iga Swiatek since, going down to the World No. 2 in the R16 of Dubai and the third round of Indian Wells.

The Ukrainian has only won two main draw matches in Miami and faces a tough assignment to improve on that record here.