Jannik Sinner and Karen Khachanov will square off during third-round action at the Miami Masters on Sunday. Meanwhile, Emil Ruusuvuori will try to build on his upset of Alexander Zverev when he goes up against Mikael Ymer.
(21) Jannik Sinner vs. (14) Karen Khachanov
Khachanov and Sinner will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers and for the second time this season when they meet again in round three of the Miami Open on Sunday. If their previous encounters are any indication, this should be a good one. A final-set tiebreaker was required to decide each of those two matches; Khachanov survived 3-6, 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-0, 7-6(4) at the 2020 U.S. Open before Sinner prevailed 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(4) earlier this season at a Melbourne 250.
Sinner went on to win that tournament for his second career ATP title. The 19-year-old is already up to No. 31 in the world and he is coming off consecutive quarterfinal performances in Marseille and Dubai. Sinner eased past Hugo Gaston 6-2, 6-2 in his Miami opener, while Khachanov took care of Yannick Hanfmann 6-3, 6-2. The 22nd-ranked Russian has been in nothing more than mediocre form of late, and the only reason he won last season’s U.S. Open thriller was because Sinner was struggling physically. There will be no such problems this time around for Italian, who should be able to reach the last 16.
Pick: Sinner in 2
Emil Ruusuvuori vs. Mikael Ymer
Ruusuvuori has already produced a brilliant result in Miami, beating fellow rising star Carlos Alcaraz 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 and then upsetting No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev 1-6, 6-3, 6-1. That marked the 21-year-old Finn’s second-ever top-10 victory, having previously defeated then-No. 5 Dominic Thiem in a lower-level Davis Cup tie in 2019.
Up next for Russuvuori is much different kind of situation against Ymer–one in which the world No. 83 will now be the favorite. But it won’t be easy, because Ymer is arguably playing the best tennis of his career. The 95th-ranked Swede advanced to the third round of the Aussie Open (beat Alcaraz and Hubert Hurkacz in the process) and so far in Miami he has knocked off Alejandro Tabilo 6-3, 6-1 and Doha champion Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Ruusuvuori has already battled through two three-setters and mentally it will be tough to follow up his huge win over Zverev, so an in-form Ymer has a good chance at a minor upset.
Pick: Ymer in 3
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