Return of Del Potro, Legends Venus Williams and Hewitt Will Star in 2015 Miami Open Day 3
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
Juan Martin Del Potro will attempt to make yet another comeback, his second this season, after more wrist problems, as he will take on Canadian Vasek Pospisil on stadium court in Miami on day 3 of the 2015 Miami Open. Del Potro is likely to have tapered his expectations for this tournament and should be happy to be out on court in good health and good spirits under the sunshine, that said Pospisil exactly in great form at the moment, so a win is possible as well for the Argentina former top 10 player and Grand Slam champion.
Speaking of Grand Slam Champions, Lleyton Hewitt and Venus Williams, both veteran legends of the game will be starring in the night session. Venus takes on Urszula Radwanska, the less accomplished half of another WTA sister act pairing on tour, and Hewitt will cap off the night in Miami against Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci, who is likely to bring a sizable cheering contingent with him given the latin flair that is prevalent in Miami. In between those matches will be an all-Russian encounter between Maria Sharapova and Daria Gavrilova. Gavrilova, a qualifier, is six years younger than Masha, and only recently broke into the top 100, thus it will be a stiff hill to climb given Sharapova has only lost twice this season.
Embed from Getty ImagesIn other stadium court matches, Agnieszka Radwanska the 7 seed will face Anna Schmiedlova, and Marcos Baghdatis will dual with Simone Bolleli in an unpredictable shotmakers pairing before Del Potro takes the court.
Over on grandstand, veteran Mikhail Youzhny will try to stop his slump against Andrey Golubev, young gun Borna Coric will look to defeat Andreas Haider-Maurer for the second time in as many weeks, and fan favorite Caroline Wozniacki will take on American Madison Brengle before Ricardas Berankis and Alex Dolgopolov square off in the final match scheduled for the grandstand court before the night session match that will feature speedy American Ryan Harrison against crafty left -handed veteran Jurgen Melzer.
Embed from Getty ImagesNotable matches on the outer courts include Americans Steve Johnson (vs. Mikhail Kukushkin) and Christina McHale (vs. Andrea Petkovic the 9 seed) in action on court 1, along with Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga playing doubles together on that court around 4 P.M.. Young gun wild card Andrey Rublev will take to court 2 against Pablo Carreno Busta, after 23 seed Sam Stosur takes on Pauline Parmentier, and prior to that QuIsner (John Isner and Sam Querrey) will face accomplished doubles veterans Daniel Nestor and Rohan Bopanna.
Embed from Getty ImagesOver a dozen more matches will take place all across the grounds in Miami, and we’ll have a full recap for you at the end the evening of day 3 action, so stay tuned for that and enjoy the 2015 Miami Open presented by Itau, whether you’re attending in person, or following virtually.