No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev will take on Spanish veteran David Ferrer on “Super Saturday” at the Miami Open, while Stefanos Tsitsipas battles lucky loser Mackenzie McDonald. Zverev and Ferrer have already met twice this season.
(2) Alexander Zverev vs. (WC) David Ferrer
Alexander Zverev and David Ferrer are no strangers to each other. The two men have met six other times with Zverev leading the head-to-head 4-2. Ferrer announced in 2018 that his last event will be the Masters 1000 in Madrid later this spring. The veteran is ranked No. 155 in the world, and while he dispatched Sam Querrey in the first round this week, Zverev represents a much taller mountain to climb.
Zverev is title-less so far in 2019, but he captured the ATP Tour Finals in London over Novak Djokovic. The German is ranked No. 3 in the world, largely on the strength of his results at 500- and 1000-level ATP events. He has yet to have a big breakthrough at a major.
It’s hard to imagine that Ferrer will be able to hang with an in-form Zverev on a hard court; the Spaniard is likely to making his way to the clay courts of Europe earlier than he would have liked.
Cheryl pick: Zverev in 2
Ricky pick: Zverev in 3
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(8) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. (LL) Mackenzie McDonald
Greek NextGen star Stefanos Tsitsipas has had a great start to 2019. He battled his way all the way to the semifinals at the Australian Open, then followed up that result with the title in Marseille, and a showing in the finals of Dubai, which he lost to Roger Federer. The Greek endured an oddly lackluster loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime in his first match in Indian Wells a couple of weeks ago, but it may have work in his favor this week, as he undoubtedly needed rest after a busy couple of months.
Although Mackenzie McDonald hasn’t had the breakthrough of his second round rival, the American currently sits at a career-high 60th in the world. He had a match win in Indian Wells before going down to Daniil Medvedev, but he was relegated to qualifying for Miami. He lost in qualies to Italian Lorenzo Sonego, but slipped into the main draw as a lucky loser.
Tsitsipas and McDonald have not met in a tour-level match, but Tsitsipas shouldn’t be in much danger of being upset at the hands of the American.
Cheryl pick:Tsitsipas in 2
Ricky pick: Tsitsipas in 2
[polldaddy poll=10273766]
Agree w/both picks….Just saw both Zv and Tpas in Miami, on the practice courts, and they look healthy and motivated…will win in straight.