Fellow seeds Felix Auger-Aliassime and Roberto Bautista Agut will get started in Miami on Friday, and they do not have easy openers on their hands. They are going up against Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Lloyd Harris, respectively.
(11) Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Pierre-Hugues Herbert
Auger-Aliassime and Herbert will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers when they clash in round two of the Miami Open on Friday. They have split their two previous encounters, both of which have come on indoor hard courts; Herbert prevailed 7-6(2), 7-5 last year in Montpellier before Auger-Aliassime exacted revenge just two weeks later via a 6-0, 6-7(6), 7-6(9) decision in Marseille.
This should be one of the best matches of the entire second round. Auger-Aliassime made a run to the Miami semifinals as a qualifier in 2019 and he already owns nine match victories this season. Herbert is coming off a runner-up showing in Marseille and he destroyed Pedro Sousa on Wednesday. The 74th-ranked Frenchman is playing well enough to once again trouble Auger-Aliassime, but the 20-year-old Canadian’s return of serve will likely be too good in the end for an opponent who loves to follow his deliveries into the net.
Pick: Auger-Aliassime in 3
Lloyd Harris vs. (7) Roberto Bautista Agut
A similarly intriguing matchup between in-form competitors pits Bautista Agut against Harris for the first time in their careers. Both men find themselves in South Beach following successful stints in the Middle East. Bautista Agut finished runner-up in Doha before Harris made a surprising run to the Dubai final (lost to a red-hot Aslan Karatsev) as a qualifier.
The only negative for Harris, who is playing the best tennis of his career, is that he has not had much rest of late. Whereas Bautista Agut got a first-round bye, the 52nd-ranked South African scraped past Emilio Nava in unspectacular 6-4, 7-6(7) fashion on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Bautista Agut has reached at least the fourth round in three of his last four Miami appearances–including the quarterfinals in 2019. In what should be a tight battle, the 12th-ranked Spaniard will likely have the edge both mentally and physically in the latter stages.
Pick: Bautista Agut in 3
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