The Masters 1000 event in Miami will get underway on Wednesday, with American Ryan Harrison taking the court against mercurial Italian Fabio Fognini. Martin Klizan and Benoit Paire are also in first-round action.
Fabio Fognini vs. Ryan Harrison
Fognini and Harrison will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they clash in round one of the Miami Open on Wednesday. Their only previous encounter came at the 2014 Indian Wells Masters, where a typical Fognini affair–complete with controversy and wild momentum swings–went the Italian’s way 5-7, 6-1, 6-4. Fognini is coming off another bizarre Indian Wells showing, as he recovered from a set and 4-1 down to beat Konstantin Kravchuk and then upset Jo-Wilfried Tsonga only to get blown out by Pablo Cuevas in the last 32. The world No. 40 is a respectable 7-6 this season after starting it 1-4.
Harrison suffered a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 first-round loss to Damir Dzumhur in the California desert and all of Harrison’s tennis rackets suffered to an even greater extent. The 47th-ranked American will try to bounce back and recapture the form that carried him to his first career ATP title in Memphis last month. Harrison, who is 7-3 at the main-tour level in 2017, also lifted the Dallas Challenger winner’s trophy in early February. Unlike Kravchuk at the previous Masters 1000 tournament, Harrison is playing well enough to make Fognini pay for too many mental lapses.
Pick: Harrison in 3
[polldaddy poll=9702506]
[polldaddy poll=9702532]
Donald Young vs. Dustin Brown
It is still early, but Young is on pace for his best–and certainly most consistent–year on the ATP Tour heading into Miami. The 51st-ranked American has won three matches at three of his last four tournaments, with semifinal performances in Memphis and Delray Beach to go along with a fourth-round run in Indian Wells. Young has not lost in the opening round in any of five ATP events in 2017.
Up first for the 27-year-old on Wednesday is a second career meeting with Brown, who lost their only previous contest 7-6(2), 6-4 on the indoor hard courts of San Jose six years ago. Brown’s season got off to a decent enough start with four wins in his first four events, but a back injury that forced him to retire in the Montpellier semifinals halted his progress. The 78th-ranked German promptly endured three consecutive straight-set defeats in opening rounds before advancing to last week’s Irving Challenger semifinals. Victories over Borna Coric and Tim Smyczek are encouraging, but Brown is now facing a more confident opponent in Young. Moreover, Young has taken down a whole host of big-serving, relatively one-dimensional adversaries this season in John Isner, Ivo Karlovic, and Reilly Opelka.
Pick: Young in 3
[polldaddy poll=9702509]
WWW?
There’s no telling which one between Paire and Klizan, wins.
Went with Fognini in 3 …it feels like he could get under Ryan’s skin. I picked Fabio for two rounds – and it’s tempting to leave FF in for a win over Cilic as well 😀
Young over Dreddy.