Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev remain on a collision course for the Miami semifinals as they head into the last eight on Wednesday. The last men standing in their way of that matchup are Tomas Machac and Nicolas Jarry.
Tomas Machac vs. (2) Jannik Sinner
Machac is playing the best tennis of his life and is now in the midst of his best-ever tournament. The 23-year-old is through to the quarterfinals of the Miami Open, which will propel him to an approximate ranking of No. 42 in the world even if he loses on Wednesday (currently 60th). Machac owns 10 main-tour match victories after taking out Darwin Blanch, Andrey Rublev, Andy Murray, and Matteo Arnaldi.
Unfortunately for the Czech, it is none other than Sinner who stands in his way of the semis. Sinner is 19-1 this season with titles in Melbourne and Rotterdam, with his only loss coming to eventual Indian Wells champion Carlos Alcaraz. So far in Miami the third-ranked Italian has defeated Andrea Vavassori, Tallon Griekspoor, and Christopher O’Connell in straight sets. Sinner his simply hitting too big for basically anyone not named Carlos Alcaraz these days and that will likely be the case against Machac.
Pick: Sinner in 2
(22) Nicolas Jarry vs. (3) Daniil Medvedev
Medvedev and Jarry will be going head-to-head for the second-time in their careers on Wednesday. Their only previous encounter came on the red clay of Barcelona in 2019, when Medvedev prevailed 6-3, 6-4. This time around it’s Medvedev–not Jarry–who has the surface advantage. The fourth-ranked Russian loves these relatively fast, low-bouncing conditions and he went all the way to the Miami title last spring (beat Sinner in the final). Medvedev is making another run in the 305 with straight-set wins over Marton Fucsovics, Cameron Norrie, and Dominik Koepfer.
Jarry has never done a whole lot on hard courts throughout his career, but one thing he has to like about Miami is that it might as well be a home tournament for him given the strength of the Chilean crowd. The atmosphere was especially raucous in round three, when Jarry outlasted Thiago Seyboth Wild 6-7(1), 7-5, 6-3 in a match that had the feel of a Chile vs. Brazil Davis Cup tie. The world No. 23 also beat Jack Draper (in a third-set tiebreaker) and Casper Ruud en route to the last eight. Jarry is playing well, but this wasn’t a good matchup for him in Barcelona and it probably won’t be in Miami. Medvedev will stand a million miles behind the baseline on return and should get a lot of balls back in play, plus he has never minded mixing things up with a hostile crowd.
Pick: Medvedev in 2
WWW?