The Miami Open is on to the quarterfinals. One of the biggest matches of the day sees World No. 14 Karolina Muchova take on World No. 9 Victoria Mboko. This is a rematch of the 2026 Qatar Open final, which Muchova won. The match begins at 2:00. p.m. ET.
Muchova is -107 on the Moneyline on DraftKings Sportsbook, while Mboko is -114. This is my best bet to target for the Muchova vs. Mboko match.
Karolina Muchova vs. Victoria Mboko Preview
Victoria Mboko has had a meteoric rise over the past 12 months. A year ago at this time, Mboko was dominating on the ITF Circuit, stacking titles against ITF-level competition. Mboko broke into the WTA Top 200 and received her first-ever entry into a WTA 1000 main draw at the 2025 Miami Open, where she also got her first-ever WTA-level win. Getting into the Miami Open last year and winning a match was a monumental moment in Mboko’s career. Since then, she has set the world on fire and entered the 2026 Miami Open as a top-10 player in the world. The time it took Mboko to go from the WTA Top 200 to the WTA Top 10 was just 350 days. That is the fastest anyone has achieved that feat since 1990. Mboko has made two WTA 1000 finals during this time and is looking to make a third here in Miami.
Karolina Muchova has been having a nice run over the past couple of years. Muchova was a promising young player for many years, but a string of injuries caused her to miss a lot of time, and she struggled to regain her form when she did come back on the court. In 2022, Muchova dropped out of the WTA Top 100. However, she bounced back in 2023, making a French Open final and a US Open semifinal. Muchova has made another semifinal and a quarterfinal at the US Open each of the last two years. So far this season, Muchova has made the fourth round at the Australian Open and won her second career WTA Tour title by defeating Victoria Mboko in the Qatar Open final.
Karolina Muchova vs. Victoria Mboko Pick, Best Bet
One thing that has become clear is that Victoria Mboko is an incredibly fast learner. Every experience that she has had over the past year has helped her grow into a top-10 player in the world at just 19 years old. Mboko has proven that she can get it done at a high level, defeating the former World No. 1 in the 2025 Canada Open final to secure her first career WTA 1000 title. While she lost to Muchova in the Qatar Open final, Mboko picked up two top-10 wins on the way to the final. That included beating World No. 2 Elena Rybakina. Mboko has already picked up another top 10 win at this Miami Open, beating Mirra Andreeva in the Round of 16.
Throughout the past year, Victoria Mboko has continued to take the next step whenever the step has been put in front of her. In this match, she has the chance to avenge her loss in the Qatar Open final and get into the quarterfinals at the Miami Open. It would be very fitting for Mboko to go on a run and win this title, as this is where it all started for her last year. My best bet is on Mboko to learn from her mistakes in Qatar and prove that she is the better player, getting the win over Muchova.
