Miami R4 previews and predictions: Cilic vs. Isner, Coric vs. Shapovalov

A huge-serving affair will likely be in the cards when Marin Cilic and and John Isner collide in the Miami fourth round on Tuesday. At the other end of the career spectrum, Borna Coric is going up against Denis Shapovalov.

(14) John Isner vs. (2) Marin Cilic

Cilic and Isner will be squaring off for the 10th time in their careers when they battle for a place in the Miami Open semifinals on Tuesday. The head-to-head series stands at 7-2 in favor of Cilic, who has won four of their five previous hard-court encounters. Isner, however, has taken two of the past three meetings–6-4, 6-3 at the Paris indoors in 2016 and 7-6(3), 2-6, 7-6(2) on the red clay over Rome last spring. The two big-hitting veterans most recently faced each other on the grass of Queen’s Club in 2017, when Cilic got the job done 7-5, 6-3.

Both players could really use a big run in Miami. After finishing runner-up to Roger Federer at the Australian Open, Cilic played only one February tournament (lost to Gael Monfils in the Rio de Janeiro second round) and got upset by Philipp Kohlschreiber in the last 32 at the Indian Wells Masters. Isner was a disastrous 2-6 for his 2018 campaign heading into Miami, with opening losses in Auckland, at the Australian Open, in New York, Acapulco, and Indian Wells. The 6’10” American has advanced this fortnight with defeats of Jiri Vesely and Mikhail Youzhny, while Cilic has taken out Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Vasek Pospisil in straight sets. Cilic is generally too solid from the baseline in this matchup while playing enough first-strike tennis to keep Isner off balance, and current form suggests that the world No. 17 will be unable to reverse that trend.

Pick: Cilic in 3

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Denis Shapovalov vs. (29) Borna Coric

Coric and Shapovalov will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers and for the second time this season. They recently faced each other in Davis Cup first-round action, with Coric benefiting from home-court advantage in Croatia to cruise past Shapovalov 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on clay. It has only been full steam ahead for the world No. 36 since then, as he reached the Dubai quarterfinals (lost to eventual champion Roberto Bautista Agut) and the Indian Wells semis (fell to Roger Federer 5-7, 6-4, 6-4). So far in Miami, Coric has gotten the best of Leonardo Mayer and Jack Sock in three sets.

Shapovalov is in the midst of by far his best event since last summer’s back-to-back breakthroughs in Montreal (semifinals) and at the U.S. Open (fourth round as a qualifier). The 18-year-old Canadian also advanced to the Delray Beach semifinals last month, but he did not beat anyone ranked better than 57th in the world and he lost to Frances Tiafoe. Shapovalov is through to the last 16 in Miami thanks to defeats of Viktor Troicki (in a third-set tiebreaker), Damir Dzumhur, and Sam Querrey. In what is sure to be a competitive contest, Coric’s confidence from a myriad of wins may be a difference-maker–and a relatively slow surface could also be to his advantage.

Pick: Coric in 2

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