Jannik Sinner, Emil Ruusuvuori, Taylor Fritz, and Alexander Bublik are the last four players remaining in wide open quarter at the Miami Masters. Two of them will progress to the quarterfinals following fourth-round action on Tuesday.
Emil Ruusuvuori vs. (21) Jannik Sinner
It’s safe to say that Sinner and Ruusuvuori have battled into the Miami Open fourth round the hard way. Following a routing win over Hugo Gaston, Sinner outlasted Karen Khachanov 4-7, 7-6(2), 6-4 after two hours and 50 minutes on Sunday. Ruusuvuori has won all three of his matches in three sets; 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 over Carlos Alcaraz, 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 over Alexander Zverev, and 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 over Mikael Ymer.
In other words, despite Sinner’s struggle against Khachanov he won’t be the most fatigued player on the court on Tuesday. And Ruusuvuori will have to be 100 percent in order to have any chance against Sinner, who has captured two ATP titles dating back to last fall–including earlier this season at a 250-point event in Melbourne. The 31st-ranked Italian should not have too much trouble ending Ruusuvuori’s impressive run.
Pick: Sinner in 2
(22) Taylor Fritz vs. (32) Alexander Bublik
Another relatively surprising matchup featuring two players in stellar form pits Fritz against Bublik for the third time in their careers. Bublik has won both of their previous encounters, but it hasn’t been easy; he prevailed 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 two years ago in Chengdu and 6-4, 7-6(4) last season in Adelaide.
Fritz, however, now playing arguably his best tennis ever. The 32nd-ranked American is 9-4 in 2021 and has reached at least the third round in all five of his tournaments. So far in Miami he has defeated Marcos Giron and Cameron Norrie. Bublik started the year on fire, but he had suffered three consecutive second-round losses heading into Miami. The 44th-ranked Kazakh’s high-risk game just isn’t as reliable as that of Fritz, and he is also far more likely to go off the rails mentally. Victories over Laslo Djere and James Duckworth were solid, but Fritz represents a huge step up in competition level.
Pick: Fritz in 2
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