Rafael Nadal will kick off his Miami campaign on Saturday against Damir Dzumhur. Second-round action is also wrapping up with an all-American showdown between John Isner and Tim Smyczek.
(5) Rafael Nadal vs. Damir Dzumhur
Heading into his sixth tournament of the season at the Miami Open, Nadal is still in search of his first title. The fifth-ranked Spaniard has not reached a final since Doha in early January, but he is coming off three consecutive semifinal finishes–including at the Indian Wells Masters. In the desert, Nadal scored victories over Gilles Muller, Fernando Verdasco, and Kei Nishikori before losing to Novak Djokovic 7-6(5), 6-2.
Up first for the 14-time major champion on Saturday is Dzumhur, whom Nadal has never faced. The world No. 94, who hails from Bosnia and Herzegovina, punched his ticket to the Miami second round by upsetting Leonardo Mayer 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday. Dzumhur is 6-7 at the ATP level during the 2016 campaign and he has not yet won back-to-back matches on any circuit. This should be a routine start to the event for Nadal, who may have built some confidence in Indian Wells.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing seven games or fewer
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(13) John Isner vs. (Q) Tim Smyczek
It will be an all-American affair when Isner and Smyczek go head-to-head for the first time in their careers on Saturday. Isner is coming off a decent fourth-round performance at the BNP Paribas Open, but for a while it looked like the fortnight could be even better for the world No. 13. Amidst conditions ideal for his game, Isner coasted past Andreas Seppi and Adrian Mannarino but then squandered a match point and lost to Kei Nishikori in a third-set tiebreaker. Miami’s 13th seed has now been ousted in three straight tournaments after having a match point.
An in-form Smyczek successfully qualified in both Indian Wells and Miami. The Delray Beach quarterfinalist booked his spot in the main draw of this event by taking out Christian Harrison and Grega Zemlja in easy straight sets before beating countryman Tommy Paul 6-4, 5-7, 7-5. Smyczek had also defeated Paul 7-5 in the third set during Indian Wells qualifying. This is obviously a steep step up in competition for Smyczek, whose serve is not reliable enough to hold on a consistent basis–and holds against Isner are just about essential every time his opponent toes the line.
Pick: Isner in 2
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who ya got?
Nadal in 2 easy sets
Isner in 2 with 1 tiebreak.
Big John in straights and Rafa in straights losing seven games or fewer.
I think Rafa should win in 2 straightforward sets.
Isner for the win in 2 sets.
Isner and rafa in two sets… straight forward matches in my opinion
Rafa in 2 – easy sets
Isner in 2
Keep your mind focused, stay confident and enjoy the game, Rafa!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cee5rR4XEAUUv7G.jpg
… And sue someone for saying Rafa would make fed fans happy.
..And sue those who are constructing imaginary stories.
Like you saying that Rafa can sue posters on a tennis blog and making up stories about Rafa making fed fans happy and not returning to Spain after Australian open loss. So many false stories. Rafa would not be happy about this.
Just DO IT Rafa.
Rafa leads 4:1 with one break.
Vamos Rafa!
Poor misses followed by two exemplary winning shots! 5-2 Rafael Nadal
I’m there
awesome! I hope Rafa improves his level. Not going for any DTL forehands
Ricky, lucky you!
What’s the temperature like?
Rafa takes the 1st set 62.
Vamos Rafa!
HUGE forehands from rafa
needs to cut those UE …12 is too many against this opponent.
Set 1 stats:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cef3ahJWAAAj5om.jpg
Dzumhur has got the stomach virus.
No empty seats.
Pathetic! keeps missing routine shots. Had this opponent been playing some good tennis on a consistent basis, rafa would be in trouble
Rafa is sweating more than any other player I’ve seen today.
Nose drip tell is back.
Terrible
Gasquet might have Rafa beat in amount of sweat. I don’t know how someone can be that drenched and still function out there!
Massive upper sections of #EmptySeats lol.
Nadine’s made up stories are hilarious! Rafa should sue.
You need to chill.
and you need to grow out of our obsessions. lol
Chill she says. From the one who “doesn’t want to live in a world without Rafa.”
That’s rich.
Only came to see the second set…so far Rafa’s game looks rather strange…missing a lot of easy shots…what’s going on??? C’mon Rafa!!! Do it!
Yeah, sweating a lot…
Rafa breaks back. Rafa went walkies in this set, hope he’s back now.