There will be no secrets involved in at least two of the third-round matchups on Monday at the Miami Masters. Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alex de Minaur have already faced each other 10 times, while Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul are best friends on tour.
(3) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. (25) Alex de Minaur
Tsitsipas and de Minaur will be squaring off for the 11th time in their careers when they meet again in round three of the Miami Open on Monday. The head-to-head series is being absolutely dominated by Tsitsipas, who has won all seven of their main-tour encounters. De Minaur at least managed to beat the Greek in qualifying at the 2017 Surbiton Challenger, but he has lost all nine of their other matches. They most recently faced each other last month on the indoor hard courts of Rotterdam, where Tsitsipas cruised 6-4, 6-4.
There is, however, some good news for de Minaur. The 28th-ranked Australian improved to 12-5 this season with a 6-2, 6-3 rout of compatriot Jordan Thompson on Saturday and he is coming off a fourth-round appearance in Indian Wells, where he pushed eventual champion Taylor Fritz to a third-set tiebreaker. Tsitsipas has not played well since he defeated de Minaur in Rotterdam. The world No. 5 got blown out by Felix Auger-Aliassime in the final of that tournament and then lost to Roman Safiullin in Marseille, to Cameron Norrie in Acapulco, and to Jenson Brooksby in Indian Wells. In slow Miami conditions, Tsitsipas will struggle to get the ball past de Minaur’s defense–making for another reason why an upset is well within the realm of possibility.
Pick: De Minaur in 3
(11) Taylor Fritz vs. Tommy Paul
Will Fritz’s best friend on tour be the one to end his hot streak? It’s possible, because next up for the Indian Wells champion is none other than Paul. They have faced each other five times overall as professionals (not to mention in multiple junior slam finals), with Paul leading the head-to-head series 3-2. Their two recent encounters last fall (their only two at the ATP level) were split; Fritz won 7-6(3), 6-4 in St. Petersburg before Paul prevailed 6-4, 6-4 in Stockholm.
With Paul also in great form, this one could obviously go either way. The world No. 37 upset Alexander Zverev en route to the Indian Wells third round (lost to de Minaur) and so far in Miami he has ousted Benjamin Bonzi and Karen Khachanov–the latter in a third-set tiebreaker. Both Americans are incredibly solid off both wings from the baseline, but the difference could be that Fritz will undoubtedly win a lot more free points on serve. Plus, the confidence from an eight-match winning streak cannot be discounted.
Pick: Fritz in 3
WWW?
Tpas in 2; Fritz in 2…..and how about that Sinner-PCB match today….WOW!
amazing!
Yeah, I always thought Sinner was a damp squid!!! He’s demeanor is so dull and boring on court and to see him get fired up yesterday especially in the third set, I almost got scared 😂😂😂😂
But how did Pablo allow that 5:2 lead to slip and then blow his chances in the TB is beyond me but it happens to the best of them!!!
If Sinner is a “damp squid” what does that make you? I’m still questioning whether you’re a bot or an actual human posting.
But do t worry, Sinner, Italy and rest of Europe will be with Russia soon enough and you won’t have to worry about the damp squids anymore.