Fellow qualifiers Mikhail Kukushkin and Pierre-Hugues Herbert will be in action at the Miami Masters on Thursday. They are set for respective first-round meetings with Brian Baker and Lukas Rosol.
(PR) Brian Baker vs. (Q) Mikhail Kukushkin
Baker will be playing in his second tournament of the season when he takes the court at the Miami Open on Thursday. Just being out there is a moral victory for Baker, arguably the most injury-plagued man currently on the ATP Tour. The 30-year-old American missed all of 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014, and 2015 with various physical problems that required surgeries too numerous to name. Baker’s latest comeback began at the Australian Open, where he fell to Simone Bolelli 7-6(6), 7-6(3), 6-7(2), -6(5).
Up next for the former world No. 52 is a second career encounter with Kukushkin. The two veterans previously faced each other on the clay courts of Nice in 2012, when Baker prevailed 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). It has already been a relatively productive stay in Miami for Kukushkin, who qualified for the main draw with straight-set victories over Peter Polansky and Joao Souza. The 90th-ranked Kazakh recently pushed Novak Djokovic to five sets in the Davis Cup opening round and he beat Daniel Munoz De La Nava in Indian Wells before bowing out at the hands of Kei Nishikori. Kukushkin is clearly on top of his game right now and he may have too much for a rusty opponent.
Pick: Kukushkin in 2
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(Q) Pierre-Hugues Herbert vs. Lukas Rosol
Herbert has already been a busy man heading into first-round action in Miami on Thursday. The 107th-ranked Frenchman captured the Indian Wells doubles title with Nicolas Mahut last Saturday before making a quick turnaround to play qualifying at this event. Herbert punched his ticket to the main draw by defeating Omar Jasika and Mischa Zverev in straight sets.
A first-ever showdown against Rosol is now in the cards for Herbert. The 30-year-old Czech is a mediocre 8-8 on the season and has slipped to 58th in the rankings after once peaking as high as No. 26 in 2014. Rosol lost his Indian Wells opener to Adrian Mannarino before getting crushed by eventual champion Marcel Granollers in the Irving Challenger quarterfinals. Armed with plenty of confidence, Herbert should benefit from having enjoyed a much-needed day off on Wednesday and will likely maintain his fine form.
Pick: Herbert in 2
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My heart says Baker but my brain says Kukushkin, and Rosol in 3.
Agree with both of these sentiments exactly. Hold/Break stats on hard courts (even slow ones like Miami) lend further credence to these two picks.
KuKu in 2. PHH in 3.