The final spot out of the top half of the Miami draw is completely up for grabs, but the four remaining competitors simply have the semis as their goal right now. On Wednesday, it’s John Isner vs. Roberto Bautista Agut and Borna Coric vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime.
(22) Roberto Bautista Agut vs. (7) John Isner
The U.S. Open Series–and most notably Atlanta–will never not be Isner’s favorite time of year. But Miami continues to make a case for being runner-up in that department. Isner is the defending champion of this Masters 1000 event and he has improved his lifetime record to 22-10 with straight-set victories this fortnight over Lorenzo Sonego, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, and Kyle Edmund.
Up next for the ninth-ranked American is a third career contests against Bautista Agut, who trails the head-to-head series 3-2. Surprisingly, they have not faced each other since 2016–when the Spaniard got on the scoreboard against Isner by avenging 2013 and 2014 hard-court losses with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 victory in Auckland. Wednesday figured to feature a showdown between the defending champion and the world No. 1, but Novak Djokovic went down to Bautista Agut 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 during fourth-round action. The world No. 25 previously defeated Janko Tipsarevic and Fabio Fognini, improving his 2019 record to an awesome 14-3. Bautista Agut will undoubtedly dominate baseline rallies in this matchup and he returns serve well enough–even against Isner–to get into those rallies on a relatively consistent basis.
Pick: Bautista Agut in 3
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(Q) Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. (11) Borna Coric
Results just keep getting better and better for Auger-Aliassime. The 18-year-old Canadian’s Golden Swing included a runner-up performance in Rio de Janeiro and a quarterfinal finish in Sao Paulo before he advanced to the third round in Indian Wells. He has now trumped all of those showings with a run to his first-ever Masters 1000 quarterfinal, qualifying for the main draw and then ousting Casper Ruud, Marton Fucsovics, Hubert Hurkacz, and Nikoloz Basilashvili.
It is true that Auger-Aliassime has benefited from favorable draws, and that trend continues on Wednesday. Coric is without question a tough opponent, but you can’t ask for a better opportunity in the quarters of such a huge tournament. In fact, the 13th-ranked Croat had been a mere 3-4 in his last seven matches prior to arriving in Miami. So far this fortnight Coric has scraped past Roberto Carballes Baena, Jeremy Chardy, and Nick Kyrgios. Coric has required three sets on all of those occasions, so it’s not like his confidence is all of sudden peaking following a lackluster January and February. Auger-Aliassime can play the same elite defense that Coric does while also–at least for the time being–producing more powerful, first-strike tennis.
Pick: Auger-Aliassime in 3
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50/50 matches here….
I agree. I do think FAA will find it hard to get the win against Coric, much as I’d love to see RBA and FAA in the semis.
Why? I thought FAA has the firepower against Coric? Kyrgios almost beat Coric even with an injured knee; FAA will bring his best to the table. (What happen to Kyrgios? He plays so few matches and still has an injured knee; can’t imagine he plays 1000 matches like Rafa; he’ll be crippled by then! )
I think Isner will beat Agut in three sets; he looks determined to do well being the defending champion.
Playing pro tennis on hard courts in hazardous to your health. Lots of players get injured. I’m tired of blaming them for their injuries. Overtraining, undertraining, overplaying, underplaying. Bah. The problem is hard courts!
Coric and RBA in 3, but these matches could go either way. Should be some good tennis.
Agree….50/50 in both….but I’ll take The Big Dawg in 2….and Coric in 2.