The bottom half of the Miami draw is in some shambles, but two seeds will be facing each other on Sunday when Kei Nishikori meets Fernando Verdasco. One of four all-unseeded matchups pits Benoit Paire against Donald Young.
Fernando Verdasco vs. (2) Kei Nishikori
Nishikori and Verdasco will be squaring off for the fifth time in their careers when the clash in round three of the Miami Open on Sunday. The head-to-head series is tied up at two wins apiece, although Nishikori has taken their last two encounters–albeit in final sets. The current world No. 4 prevailed 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-4 at the 2015 Indian Wells Masters and got the job done 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-4 at last year’s French Open. Verdasco’s victories came back in 2011 (Australian Open) and 2012 (in Barcelona via retirement).
As the 2016 runner-up in Miami, Nishikori is in danger of falling to seventh in the rankings–possibly surpassed this fortnight by Milos Raonic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal. Japan’s top player took the first step toward to defending those points by cruising past Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-3 on Friday. Verdasco had a tougher time at the office in his opener but managed to hold off American qualifier Ernesto Escobedo 7-6(9), 7-5. The 30th-ranked Spaniard is 10-6 this season with semifinal showing in Doha and runner-up performance in Dubai. Needless to say, he is not in the Middle East anymore–rather he is on Nishikori’s old stomping grounds of south Florida. The second seed’s style of taking the ball early and right on top of the baseline should prevent Verdasco from being able to dictate play as much as he would like.
Pick: Nishikori in 2
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Benoit Paire vs. Donald Young
Young’s year began with a first-round Challenger loss to Ruben Bemelmans and a second-round Australian Open blowout suffered against Kohlschreiber. Since then, however, the 27-year-old American has been off to the races. He reached the semifinals in both Memphis and Delray Beach before making a fourth-round run in Indian Wells. Young now finds himself as part of the last 32 in Miami, where he has defeated Dustin Brown 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 and Lucas Pouille 6-2, 6-4.
Up next for the world No. 51 on Sunday is a second career encounter with Paire, who took their only previous meeting 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2 on the clay courts of Casablanca in 2012. Paire’s appearance in the third round this fortnight is far more surprising than Young’s, as the 39th-ranked Frenchman had been in the midst of a disastrous losing streak that reached five matches with a bad 6-3, 6-2 loss to Taylor Fritz in the California desert. So far in Miami, however, Paire has advanced with wins over Martin Klizan (7-6(4), 6-3) and Pablo Cuevas (7-5, 6-0). In a showdown that is sure to feature crazy momentum swings, Young will likely be the more consistent of these two up-and-down competitors.
Pick: Young in 3
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WWW?
Young in three and Nishikori in three
unusual match from paire and young. both having tantrums throughout from the start.
Yes but how are they unusual?