David Goffin and Tommy Robredo will kick off their Miami campaigns on Saturday. They have tough matchups on their hands against Borna Coric and Alexandr Dolgopolov, respectively.
(18) David Goffin vs. Borna Coric
Goffin and Coric will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they collide in round two of the Miami Open on Saturday. Their only previous meeting came last fall in the Basel quarterfinals, with Goffin prevailing 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. The 20th-ranked Belgian has cooled off since a torrid summer in 2014, in part due to injury issues. A back problem kept him out of Indian Wells, so Goffin is contesting his first tournament match since retiring in Marseille more than a month ago.
This could be last-man-standing battle, because Coric has also been less than 100 percent of late. A hip issue contributed to a second-round Indian Wells loss to Bernard Tomic and both Coric and Andreas Haider-Maurer were seeing the trainer during their Miami marathon on Thursday. Despite the struggles, the 18-year-old Croat owns seven of his 14 career ATP-level match victories this season and he registers at a best-ever ranking of 59th in the world. Both of these guys will fight until the end, and a more-rested Goffin should have an edge in what is likely to be a competitive affair.
Pick: Goffin in 3
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Alexandr Dolgopolov vs. (16) Tommy Robredo
This time last year, Dolgopolov was playing the best and most consistent tennis of his career. The Ukrainian upset Rafael Nadal en route to the Indian Wells semifinals then reached the quarters in Miami. Since then, however, Dolgopolov has mostly been an injury-plagued disaster. He is just now getting back to 100 percent, and his clean bill of health is paying off in the form of success–albeit modest by his standards. Dolgopolov advanced to consecutive quarterfinals in Delray Beach and Acapulco before making it to the Indian Wells third round. The world No. 65 opening in Miami by thrashing Ricardas Berankis 6-4, 6-1.
Somewhat surprisingly, this is the first-ever showdown between Dolgopolov and Robredo. The 32-year-old Spaniard is a meager 4-5 on the season, but he is coming off his most successful event in a while. He won two matches in Indian Wells–including a 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 victory over Grigor Dimitrov–before going down to Milos Raonic in the fourth round. Robredo would probably have the advantage on clay, but current form and surface give a slight nod to Dolgopolov.
Pick: Dolgopolov in 3
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