The most intriguing matchup on Day 1 of the Miami Open is appropriately getting night-session treatment. It’s Emil Ruusuvuori vs. Carlos Alcaraz in a showdown between two of the game’s rising stars.
Ruusuvuori is the more experienced of the two players at 21 years old, with 16 ATP-level match wins for his career–including five already this season. The 83rd-ranked Finn has impressively won at least one match at each of his five main-tour appearances in 2021, including last week in Dubai as a qualifier. His streak of first-round victories is six dating back to last fall, when he made a run to the semifinals in Nur-Sultan.
At just 17 years old, Alcaraz has already been tipped as Spain’s next great hope for a while now. Although his true arrival came on clay with a win at 16 years old over world No. 41 Albert Ramos-Vinolas last February in Rio de Janeiro, Alcaraz is clearly adept on hard courts as well. So far this season the world No. 132 has reached the third round of a 250 event in Melbourne and the second round of the Australian Open as a qualifier.
Alcaraz arguably has more potential than Ruusuvuori, as the teenager’s natural talent appears to be off the charts. At this point in time, though, consistency is understandably lacking. Russuvuori’s relative experience and his streak of first-round wins cannot be discounted when it comes to this Miami match.
Pick: Ruusuvuori in 3
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