Alex Dolgopolov

All posts tagged Alex Dolgopolov

2015 ATP Monte Carlo (@mcrolexmasters) Preview, Predictions

Posted by Admin on April 12, 2015

2015 ATP Monte Carlo Preview, Predictions
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

The spring European clay court season begins in earnest with the third masters event of the season, the Monte-Carlo Masters in the wealthy seaside playground of Monte-Carlo, Monaco. It’s not a mandatory masters, but all the same most of the top players are participating.

ATP Monte-Carlo

2015 ATP Monte Carlo Preview

Monte Carlo Rolex Masters
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Monte-Carlo, Monaco
April 12-April 19, 2014
Prize Money: €3,288,530

Top 8 seeds (who all receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)

1: Novak Djokovic (1)
2: Roger Federer (2)
3: Rafael Nadal (5)
4: Milos Raonic (6)
5: David Ferrer (7)
6: Tomas Berdych (8)
7: Stan Wawrinka (9)
8: Marin Cilic (10)

15 of the top 20 are in the MC field, with notable exceptions Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori and Feliciano Lopez.

First round matchups to watch:

Embed from Getty Images

(13)Ernests Gulbis vs. Andreas Haider-Maurer

AHM and Gulbis have a split h2h record, but shockingly AHM beat Gulbis on hard court, which is not his surface, and Gulbis has the win on clay, both matches being competitive. Gulbis is higher ranked and the seed here, but this is not as much of a mismatch as it seems on paper. AHM has had a relatively good season on clay, as he comes off a quarterfinal showing in Casablanca and also reached the semis in Rio. Gulbis has only won 1 match this year, hasn’t played on clay, and though he posted a remarkable 17-5 record on the surface last year, he’s not playing anywhere near that level at the moment, with his game entirely lacking confidence and belief at the moment. In theory a return to clay could help Gulbis post resurgent results, but I’m picking Haider-Maurer to continue Ernests misery this season and advance into round 2.

Dominic Thiem vs. (WC)Lucas Pouille

Thiem is the favorite and should win this, but both players are 21 year old young guns with great promise and it’s an intriguing matchup. Thiem started the season off slow but still has two quarterfinals, including one in Miami, and he went 16-7 in clay court tournaments last year (12-7 at the ATP level) after going 46-12 on clay in 2013 at all levels. Pouille went 23-14 on clay last year, primarily at the challenger level and has an ATP semi (Auckland) and a challenger semi from last week on his 2015 resume. He’s an intriguing talent who can hit a wide variety of shots, especially on his forehand side, and he gave Gael Monfils quite the match in Australia. Thiem likely wins in straights, but enjoy it if it goes three sets, presently he’s the more well rounded and accomplished player, and his form in Miami bodes well for his clay court season.

Viktor Troicki vs. Martin Klizan

ATP Casablanca champion Martin Klizan will take on Troicki, a player four years his senior but similar in ranking and ability. Troicki beat Klizan in Sydney this year (2-2 h2h) and they have never met on clay. Troicki went just 1-2 on the hard court masters swing in the US but he has two quarterfinals and an ATP title (Sydney) on his record this year. Klizan just posted his best tournament of the season with the title in Monte Carlo. Last year Klizan went 23-6 on clay while Troicki went 25-4, though that was almost exclusively at the challenger level. Both are accomplished and talented, and given fatigue factor, I give Troicki a slight edge to advance.

Embed from Getty Images

(15)John Isner vs. Steve Johnson

These two ATP level American men have played twice before, with a split 1-1 h2h. This will be their first meeting on clay. Johnson comes off a loss to Sam Querrey in the second round of Houston and has slowed down a bit after a strong start to his season that featured three ATP quarterfinals and a third round showing at the AO. Isner by contrast caught fire after a terrible start to his season and went 6-2 between Indian Wells and Miami, only losing to Novak Djokovic twice. He suffered a shocking hangover loss to Teymuraz Gabashvili in Houston, but still he’s been able to maintain a positive clay court record over the past two years (8-5 in 2013 6-5 in 2014). Johnson comparably is still learning the surface, and thus Isner is the favorite but I could see this match going either way.

(16)Tommy Robredo vs. Andreas Seppi

Robredo is the higher ranked seed but he has not had a particularly strong season and he comes off two match losing streak coming into Monte Carlo, after previously going just 2-3 on the clay court golden swing. That said he’s still an accomplished veteran with great acumens on clay. Seppi has slowed down after a hot start to his season where he reached the final in Zagreb and also the round of 16 at the AO with a win over Federer. He’s just 3-4 since Zagreb and hasn’t had a positive tournament record on clay since 2012. h2h wise though Seppi is 2-1 on clay with a long h2h history (Robredo has won the last three meetings, one on clay, and two on hard courts both of which were last season). Given Robredo’s relative dearth of form this season, I’m going with Seppi in an upset.

(9)Grigor Dimitrov vs. Fernando Verdasco

Dimitrov is higher ranked but he’s struggled all season long, while Verdasco has been hot as of late. The Spanish veteran lefty reached the semis in Houston and is 6-3 over his last three tournaments with a win over Nadal in Miami. The h2h is 1-1 with Verdasco havng the clay court win, and both of their prior matches went 3 sets. Verdasco went 13-7 in 2014 on clay and 14-9 in 2013, while Dimitrov went 12-4 and 11-6, as this is a hard matchup to parse.That said, with the jetlag factor from Houston, I give Dimitrov the slightest of edges to advance and find some form on the red dirt after a poor winter/spring hard court season.

Borna Coric vs. Alex Dolgopolov

The 18 year old Coric is a dangerous talent and is likely to do damage on clay this year, that said he did not get the best of draw luck when he drew the in-form Dolgopolov in the opening round. Coric went 8-8 on clay in 2014 after going 14-4 in 2013 while Dolgopolov went 9-9 and 4-8 over the past two seasons on the surface, as fast surfaces likely favor his aggressive approach to tennis. That said Dolgo is 9-4 in his last four tournaments with three of those losses coming at the hands of top 10 players Nishikori, Raonic and Djokovic. He has two ATP quarterfinals in that span and a round of 16 in Miami, where he nearly beat Djokovic. Given his gilbert’s syndrome, Dolgopolov is always unpredictable, but I give him a slight edge to advance over Coric in this must see matchup that will feature big hitting.

Embed from Getty Images

Top Half:

Novak Djokovic, one of two Monte Carlo champions not named Rafael Nadal since 2005, and the world number 1 will start off against Denis Istomin or Albert Ramos. Ramos is a qualifier, and should be favored to beat the lucky loser Istomin. He suffered a shock loss in Casablanca round 1 but qualified with relative ease in MC, and he also gave Djokovic a good match on hard court in Indian Wells. Clay is his better surface, but still its Novak Djokovic, so at minimum Novak should get a decent test before the later rounds but a miracle can’t be expected from Ramos. Similarly I expect Djokovic to roll past either the Gulbis/AHM winner or Bernard Tomic. Tomic got past Lukas Rosol in 3 sets in one of the three Sunday main draw matches. He’s had a great season but he’s not a clay courter by any means, so should he beat AHM/Gulbis (AHM actually has a good chance at the third round) I still don’t expect him to get a set off of Novak.

Marin Cilic will open with Florian Mayer, as both of these players are on the comeback from injury path. Mayer had been out for 13 months, while Cilic was out for about 4, and did not play well in his comeback match against Juan Monaco in Indian Wells. Funky Flo just beat Mikhail Youzhny, who is in a terrible slump, on Sunday and the 31 year old is an accomplished clay court player who went 18-10 on clay in 2013, after missing the 2014 clay court season. That said Cilic went 11-6 on the surface last year, and he’s a more talented player all-around, so he should advance and find his form on the dirt.

Embed from Getty Images

However, the winner of this section is less likely to be Cilic, compared to the action at the top of it, with 11 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a one time semifinalist in MC, and David Goffin. Goffin went a remarkable 28-5 on clay last year (mostly at the challenger level) while Tsonga went 10-5, and just played his comeback tournament in Miami where he won a round and lost to Gael Monfils. Presuming Tsonga beats current Houston finalist Sam Querrey, and Goffin beats qualifier Norbert Gombos, it will setup a marquee second round matchup. Their h2h is 2-1 in favor of Tsonga but they have never met on clay, Goffin is 3-1 in his last four matches after a slow start to his year and with Tsonga still working into things, I’m going with Goffin in an upset, as I have him beating Tsonga, and then Cilic to reach the quarterfinals. Goffin and Cilic have never met.

Rafael Nadal will open with the Thiem/Pouille winner, the 8 time MC champion hasn’t won the title since 2012, and he’s not near the player he once was as of late. No matter, he has only lost on clay since 2013 to Nicolas Almagro, David Ferrer, Novak Djokovic, Fabio Fognini (this year in Rio), and randomly, Horacio Zeballos. Though he isn’t the player he was, he’s still the king of clay, and he destroyed Thiem at the French Open last year, conceding just 7 games over three sets. Thiem is almost certain to outdo that performance, and I don’t write him off entirely, but Nadal still should be able to get the opening round win, if he doesn’t, the decline is real and worsening. After Thiem/Pouille, Nadal is likely to face Troicki/Klizan. though Isner/Johnson are also in this section. Klizan beat Nadal last year on a hard court, so this section of the draw contains danger for Nadal, but Troicki is most likely to be his opponent, and Nadal is 4-0 against him (though they haven’t met since 2010 and all the matches were on hard courts). As an aside Troicki is 3-1 against Isner and has a clay court h2h win, which is part of the reason why he should advance. Look for Nadal to beat Thiem and Troicki to reach the quarters.

David Ferrer, a one time finalist in Monte-Carlo, who has had a great season with three ATP titles, including one on clay in Rio, will open with the veteran Victor Estrella, who beat Simone Bolelli in an upset on Sunday. Ferrer should have little trouble defeating him, and also 10 seed Gilles Simon to setup a matchup with Nadal that should prove to be quite interesting. Look for Simon, a former semifinalist, to demolish wild card Benjamin Ballaret, and then get past a qualifier, either Denis Kudla or Benoit Paire. Paire, who qualified with ease, has been improving his results and working his way back up the rankings from the challenger tour, after previously losing focus and seeing his career go to ruins, but Simon is still a step up in level. Paire is actually 3-1 against Simon and will certainly have his chance, but they have never met on clay. Simon is 5-3 in his last 8 matches, and lost to Ferrer in routine fashion in Miami.

Bottom Half:

Roger Federer will open with Jeremy Chardy/Diego Sebastian Schwartzman in the opening round. Chardy comes off a quarterfinal showing on clay in Houston, while DSS qualified comfortably after a shock loss in Casablanca in the opening round. I favor the young Argentine to upset Chardy, but Federer should demolish him, like he did in Indian Wells a month ago. The four-time finalist and world number 2 should be in for a test against 14 seed Gael Monfils in the third round, presuming Monfils beats qualifier Andrey Kuznetsov and the Coric/Dolgopolov winner. Monfils against either Coric or Dolgopolov, is a must-watch match, and he’s 2-0 against Dolgopolov with both matches coming on hard court. He’s never played well in MC (4-8 career record), but he’s still in a good form and has yet to suffer an opening round loss this season, with 1 quarterfinal, a semifinal, a final and a round of 16 in Miami on his record. Monfils upset Federer in Davis Cup play last winter but Federer is 4-1 against him on clay in his career, and thus should have the advantage in what is an exciting matchup.

Defending champion Stan Wawrinka looms in the section above Federer, Wawrinka is in atrocious form at the moment with losses to non-top 20 players Robin Haase, Sergiy Stakhovsky, and Adrian Mannarino on his record in his past three tournaments. He hasn’t played a straight set match since Marseille, and was the walking dead in the spring hard court Masters tournaments.Thus, though he is 30-10 over the past two seasons on clay, and he’s the defending champion, I have him losing to Juan Monaco in a second round upset. Monaco, who is in great form, and has had a career resurgence as of late, after being left for dead rankings wise, opens with Jiri Vesely, who broke a losing streak and reached the semifinals in Casablanca. That match will be a good warm up for Wawrinka, and though he is 0-3 (0-2) on clay against the Swiss, he’s a tremendous 10-3 over his last three tournaments with a quarterfinal in Miami, a final in Buenos Aires on clay, and also before that a quarterfinal in Rio on clay. It’s one of the bolder upsets I’ve picked in a while, but Wawrinka doesn’t appear to be fixing what is wrong with his game at the moment and Monaco is an in-form player and a clean ball striker who is in the right place at the right time and should frustrate Wawrinka.

The Wawrinka/Monaco winner is due to face either Dimitrov/Verdasco or Fabio Fognini/Jerzy Janowicz in round 3. This is a stacked and interesting section, as either Dimitrov over Verdasco could make a run, as could Monaco of course. Fognini is only competent on clay these days, as the headcase hasn’t won a match on hard courts this year, but did reach the final in Rio on clay and beat Nadal. Nobody knows how he will play, and likewise Janowicz is an emotional player, who was very much struggling but did win a couple of rounds in Miami. Clay doesn’t suit his power game as well though, so Fognini should win but I have him losing to Dimitrov in the next round (and I feel Verdasco would beat him as well). Dimi and Fogna have a 1-1 h2h. Monaco and Dimitrov have a 3-1 h2h in favor of Monaco, though Dimitrov won their last meeting on clay in 2013. It’s a difficult match to pick, but again I’m going with form and picking Monaco as a quarterfinalist.

4 seed Milos Raonic, who is better on clay than he gets credit for (11-5 last year and 18-10 over the past two seasons), will face Joao Sousa or qualifier Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the second round. ERV is in great form after qualifying, as he’s 8-2 in his last 10 matches, while Sousa has lost three straight. The Portugese number one, being European, is perceived to be better on clay than he actually is (just 7-13 in 2014 on the surface), and I have ERV winning in an upset. Raonic is 2-1 against ERV and beat him on clay so thus Milos should be safe to reach the third round. After that it will be Seppi/Robredo or Adrian Mannarino/Marcel Granollers. Presuming my prediction holds, Seppi should beat Robredo, and then have an easier time against Mannarino/Granollers. Mannarino is in great form and has an ATP final, a semi, and two round of 16s in the srping hard court Masters on his resume with wins over Wawrinka, Gulbis, Fognini and Bautista-Agut this season, while Granollers is slumping and retired in his last match in Casablanca, however Granollers is far and above better on clay, and he may have enough of a surface edge to prevail. Raonic has a lone hard court h2h win over Seppi, and all the same, even though it could be close, look for the Canadian to prevail and reach the quarters, he’s proven to be able to avoid losses against all but the top players with how reliable his serve+forehand power game is, even on clay.

8 seed Tomas Berdych will open with Sergiy Stakhovsky/Pablo Carreno Busta, both players are struggling and PCB has just 1 win since the AO, though he’s a clay courter, while Stako, who prefers fast surfaces is 2-3 in his last five and went just 3-6 on clay last year. I see PCB breaking his losing streak to win that match but Berdych should crush him. Both Benjamin Becker and Roberto Bautista Agut are struggling as well, RBA has lost three straight including a loss in Houston, but still he went 13-6 on clay last year, and Becker is a fast surface player so he should win that match. Philipp Kohlschreiber has had an awful season and has yet to string together consecutive match wins, but he is still the favorite to reach the third round. His opening round opponent Mikhail Kukushkin went just 5-10 on clay last year and retired in his last match in Casablanca (though he upset Albert Ramos in the previous round), and he has a 1-0 h2h with the similarly struggling RBA. He’s an accomplished clay courter who compiled a 29-17 record on the surface over the past two seasons, still Berdych should dispatch him to reach the quarters (8-1 h2h on top of everything else). Berdych went 11-6 last year and 9-6 in 2013 on clay. The Czech has had a great season with two ATP finals (Doha and Rotterdam), the AO semis, quarters in Miami, and two semis in Dubai and Indian Wells.

Dark Horses: David Goffin, Dominic Thiem, Andreas Seppi, Juan Monaco

Embed from Getty Images

As mentioned if Goffin beats Tsonga he becomes a small favorite to reach the quarters over Cilic or perhaps Mayer, Djokovic should prove too much for him that but that would still be a great result. Thiem would have to stun Nadal, but I don’t count him out, and I figure he has as good of a chance as Benoit Paire does of beating Simon and Ferrer consecutively, should Thiem upset Nadal he very well could, and likely should reach his second straight Masters quarterfinal.

Seppi has to upset Robredo to get the wheels in motion, but if he does, he should reach the round of 16, and you never now with Raonic if the Italian can hang in there with his serve. Monaco has to get past Wawrinka, but I think he does that, and then also upsets the 9 seed Dimitrov to setup a match with Federer in the quarters.

Embed from Getty Images

Predictions:
Quarters:
Djokovic d. Goffin
Nadal d. Ferrer
Berdych d. Raonic
Federer d. Monaco

Djokovic beat Goffin in straights at the French in 2013, Ferrer upset Nadal at this same stage in Monte Carlo last year, and he very well could do so again, I want to pick that upset but I can’t bring myself to do so given Nadal has won all of their numerous other clay court meetings, given this is perhaps his best tournament, one has to think Nadal will find a way no matter the circumstance.

Berdych is better than Raonic on clay even with the 1-3 h2h (all hard court meetings), given his consistent play this season he has to be the favorite to reach another semi, and Federer should deal with Monaco (or Wawrinka/Dimitrov/Verdasco) without too much trouble.

Semis
Djokovic d. Nadal
Federer d. Berdych

Nadal may be the king of clay, but he’s not the same player he was and the last four clay court matches between Djokovic and Nadal are a 2-2 split, including the 2013 final where Djokovic beat Nadal. Novak is the undisputed best player in the world right now, while Rafa has slipped from the top three and even with this being Monte Carlo, I don’t see it being an unreasonable pick to take Djokovic over Nadal at this stage in their careers, given the 2 out of 3 set format, Djokovic should be able to conjure a victory.

Federer-Berdych is another interesting matchup, and Federer is 3-0 in the clay court h2h. Berdych’s power can bother the maestro at times, but on clay, the advantage swings to the Swiss and thus he should prevail.

Final:
Djokovic d. Federer

Once again Federer should fall short in the Monte Carlo final, what would be a fifth time. Djokovic just beat him in IW, and though Federer beat him in the MC semis last year, Djokovic won the previous two meetings before that on clay and their clay court h2h is just 4-3 in favor of Federer since 2006. Unless their are verifiable reasons to believe otherwise, going against the world number 1 to win a title seems like a mistake right now.

Embed from Getty Images

Djokovic fends off Dolgopolov challenge on Tuesday @MiamiOpenTennis (Miami Open Day 8 Recap)
Esam Taha for Tennis Atlantic

Photo Credit: Esam Taha

The men’s round of 16 sorted itself out on Tuesday as Novak Djokovic was biggest the story. The world number 1 was a set and a break down, facing more break points in the second set, but came to fend off a tough challenge from Alex Dolgopolov. Besides that match, Milos Raonic and Venus Williams
were upset, and Dominic Thiem reached his first ever Masters level quarterfinal.

Novak Djokovic d. Alex Dolgopolov 6-7(3) 7-5 6-0

The world #1 has not exactly had a smooth ride to get to the 4th round in Miami, dropping a set to Martin Klizan and having to fend off a Steve Darcis comeback effort. It wouldn’t get smoother for the Serb today as he faced an opponent that has taken a set from him 3 out of their last 4 meetings. That opponent, the Ukranian Alexander Dolgopolov is coming off 2 tight wins against veteran Tommy Robredo and a Miami crowd favorite Thomaz Bellucci. Alex has put up good fights against the world #1 in the past and today would be no different.

Dolgo came out absolutely firing on all cylinders to start off the 1st set. The talented shotmaker was taking the ball on the rise and taking time away from Djokovic in the rallies, clearly frustrating him. Meanwhile Novak was out of sorts, being impatient, and easily frustrated out on center court.Alex took an early 4-1 lead in the 1st, which included Djokovic smashing his racket to the chorus of boos from the Miami crowd. The Serb would also be cited for a couple of code violations which cost him a point penalty. However despite the mental battle the Serb was fighting he would come back to even things up at 5-5 and eventually force a tiebreak. It seemed that Novak had righted the ship and was on his way to assume control, however the Ukrainian had something to say about it. The tiebreak began with a little help from the netcord for Alex to get the minibreak right off the bat, needless to say Novak was fuming. He’d let that get to his head as he quickly fell to a 0-4 hole in the TB. Dolgo wouldn’t look back as he kept his calm to take the TB 7-3 and yet again for the 4th time in 5 meetings take a set from the Serb.

Dologopolov was firing serves against Djokovic (Photo Credit: Esam Taha)

The 2nd set began with Alex holding with ease, Novak still looked completely dejected on the court. It would carry on to his service game as Dolgo riped an inside out forehand to set up triple break point. On the 3rd attempt the Ukranian would smoke a DTL backhand return winner to go up 2-0 and really put Novak on the ropes. Despite Novak not playing his best, Dolgo had a lot to do with it as he played lights out tennis, he brimmed with confidence. The Ukrainian is known to have the tendency to display top 10 and below top 100 level simultaneously in the same match.

Top 10 Dolgo was on full force so far as he went up 3-0 in the 2nd. The next game would prove to be a pivotal point of the match. Dolgo continued to simply out-groudstroke Novak to set up a double breakpoint, an opportunity to go up a double break and tighten his grip on the match. However after a marathon of a rally Novak would come out on top to save the 2nd breakpoint, followed by a couple of UEs from Alex to hold and avoid going down 0-4. The Miami crowd could feel a hint of the tide turning. Alex would stumble the next game falling 0-30 but eventually regain his composure and hold to maintain the single break lead at 4-1. That tough hold seemed to get Novak’s mind back into the match as he produced sharper groundstrokes pinning Dolgo deep. Preventing Dolgo from getting superior court position would work as Novak finally broke to even things up at 4-4. Dolgo would elevate his level once more with some incredible shotmaking, he’d rip multiple winners on both sides of the court to hold, not easy to do against Djokovic especially on these courts. At 4-5 Nole would show his composure as he successfully held to stay in the match. Dolgo would then play a horrible service game to get broken followed by a Novak hold to take the 2nd. It seemed like Dolgo might’ve gotten hurt, the trainer would come out to tape his feet. It was unclear what sort of injury it was exactly but it seemed to be affecting his ankle. It would sadly prove to be the virtual end to the match as the Ukranian won only 3 points out of the next 27, practically immobile out there, losing the deciding set 0-6. Djokovic had successfully escaped another dicey match 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-0.

Dolgo hurt himself going into the third set (Photo Credit: Esam Taha)

Djokovic won a hard fought match (photo credit: Esam Taha)

The Serb was available at the post-match press conference to reflection the bumpy start to the Miami Open and also weigh in on approaching Rafa’s 141 consecutive weeks at #1

Murray, Nishikori advance, Isner upsets Raonic, Suarez Navarro shocks Venus

Murray received a cake to celebrate his 500th win (photo credit: Esam Taha)

Andy Murray scored his 500th career ATP Main Draw win with a 6-4 3-6 6-3 result over Kevin Anderson, Murray continued his solid season thus far, as he put up a positive winner/unforced error ratio and returned incredibly well in the third set when it counted against the big serving South African.

Kei Nishikori was better in every department compared to David Goffin as that match was a 6-1 6-2 blowout. The Japanese #1 has not been challenged all tournament.

John Isner upset Milos Raonic 6-7(3) 7-6(6) 7-6(5) in as many tiebreaks as were to be expected, both players served well and Isner continued the trend of being clutch when it matters, as he won the final two tiebreaks to win the match from a set down.

Fernando Verdasco posted 34 errors, and wasted a break lead in the second set to fall to Juan Monaco 6-3 6-3. Young gun Dominic Thiem posted his best result of the season, and his best ever masters result with a 7-6 4-6 7-5 win in a nailbiter over Adrian Mannarino. Thiem was down a break in the third and came back against a solid Mannarino. His backhand proving to be an effective weapon.

Embed from Getty Images

Tomas Berdych won over Gael Monfils fell and injured himself 6-3 3-2 ret. and David Ferrer beat a listless Gilles Simon 7-6 6-0.

Andrea Petkovic dominated Karolina Pliskova 6-4 6-2 and Carla Suarez Navarro upset Venus Williasm 0-6 6-1 7-5 in a remarkable comeback after a bagel, as they both reached the semifinals.

Babos/Mladenovic, Hingis/Mirza and Niculescu/Panova won in doubles, as did Pospisil/Sock, and Melo/Soares.

Embed from Getty Images

Isner scores lone upset at Miami Open on Monday (Day 7 Recap)
Esam Taha for Tennis Atlantic

Photo Credit: Esam Taha

The favorites on both the ATP and WTA side held true to form on Monday in Miami, with the lone upset being American John Isner’s victory over Grigor Dimitrov.

John Isner d. Grigor Dimitrov 7-6(2) 6-2

The big serving American had never faced Grigor Dimitrov before tonight, a night that would prove to be a big one for him. Isner was coming off a routine win over Andrey Rublev in the 2nd round and looking to secure a victory over the world #11. Meanwhile the Bulgarian had convincingly dismantled Vasek Pospisil a couple of days ago and looking to make amends for his early exit in Indian Wells.

Isner’s serve fended off the Dimitrov challenge (photo credit: Esam Taha)

Isner came out on fire blasting his first serves in at a high rate, not providing Grigor with any chance to get a beat on his serves. Both players would hold serve to kick things off, but a moment of controversy would present itself quickly on Isner’s serve. Dimitrov returned a ball that was going long but Isner gave up on the ball before the out call and therefore Bernandes would call it against John bringing up double break point. John was not happy and made that very clear to Carlos. Later John would give a more thorough explanation of what happened on that play in his post-match press conference, which can be found below. Meanwhile he’d quickly forget about the incident and win the next 4 points to hold serve. Dimitrov was keeping up with Isner but he was clearly not playing his best tennis out there, and with the crowd behind the American, Grigor was truly on the ropes.

Dimitrov was able to force a tiebreak nonetheless, but it would be a one-sided affair as Isner easily take it to close the set 7-6(2).
Dimitrov would have to change something quickly if he were to turn thing around, the Bulgarian was very rusty while John had hit his groove. At 1-1, Grigor would find himself in a 0-30 hole in a pivotal game. He was not able to bounce back, a couple of bad misses proved costly as John got the early break to take a 2-1 lead. Isner consolidated with ease, Grigor’s returns weren’t even close to landing on the court. The world #11 would then show a glimpse of why many picked him to win tonight. He would smoke a couple of aces coupled with an exquisite forehand drop to hold. However, that glimpse would be short-lived as John would find himself with another break opportunity at 2-4, a virtual match point for the American. Grigor would tighten up and proceed to gift the break to John with a double fault, summing up his disappointing performance tonight. Isner would do his part and serve out the match out to put 1 under the W column in their only head to head meeting. Isner has been markedly improved in his last two events, while Dimitrov continues to struggle this season.

Dimitrov lost the plot by the time the second set rolled around (photo credit: Esam Taha)

Novak Djokovic d. Steve Darcis 6-0 7-5

The world #1 was coming off a tricky match against Martin Klizan in the 2nd round and looked to put in a more convincing performance against qualifier Steve Darcis in this 3rd round encounter. Darcis, clearly the underdog here, was coming off a comeback effort against Malek Jaziri in the 1st round and a tough grinder against Gilles Muller in the 2nd.

Steve wasn’t used to the spotlight of playing in the main stadium and it showed right away, as he normally plies his trade on the challenger tour. Djokovic would proceed to steamroll past the Belgian in the 1st set with a bagel to show for it. Darcis made the mistake of trying to match Djokovic in rallies and taking him head on when he’s clearly the less talented player. Darcis however would change that approach a bit in the 2nd set.

Djokovic baked up another bagel today (Photo Credit: Esam Taha)

Novak held to kick things off registering his 7th straight game. Darcis would finally hold and get on the board prompting a loud cheer from the crowd. The next game brought back memories of the Klizan match as Novak would sloppily fall to deuce on his serve, but eventually hold. Steve was now engaged, keeping up as he held to tie it up at 2-2. Darcis switched his tactics in the 2nd going almost exclusively with the slice on his backhand side and it was starting to bother the Serb. The frustration would grow as Novak started making silly errors and not handling Steve’s slice very well. The Belgian would take things to 4-4, but he was hardly putting any sort of pressure on Novak’s serve, his returns were abysmal up to that point.

Darcis looked lost against Djokovic (Photo Credit: Esam Taha)

That would change the next game. The excessive slicing would eventually get to Novak’s head as he commited back to back uncharacteristic errors, earning Steve his first break of the match. Darcis now would get a chance to test his nerves as he walked out there to serve out a set against the #1 player in the world, no big deal. Djokovic however wasn’t too happy with himself and decided to take it out on Steve as he ripped a DTL backhand winner to seal the love break. That was as close as Steve would come to threatening the Serb. The Belgian attempted to serve to stay in the match, and would make quite a fight out of it. The ending was inevitable though as he poorly attempted a drop shot that dropped well short, putting the match to rest. Again Djokovic let up a bit after bageling his opponent, but this time, there would not be a third set.

After the match in press, Novak added his two cents on the rule changes to Davis Cup in regards to adding a fifth set tiebreak.

Meanwhile, Darcis admitted he tried his best on the day.

Raonic, Nishikori, Ferrer march into the round of 16

Embed from Getty Images

The two other big names in action on the men’s side of the draw scored wins today, Milos Raonic was 6-1 5-3 up against Jeremy Chardy, as he got off to a strong start, and the Frenchman was poor, even on his own serve, much less dealing with the Manitoba missile. However, Raonic slipped up and ended up having to put up a heck of a fight to advance. Chardy broke back for 5-5 in set 2, then saved break points to hold, and in the next game, break the Canadian #1 to force a third set, to the shock of everyone on the grandstand. In that third, Raonic was under pressure in multiple service games, as he was forced to save break points at 3-4. Raonic would get it into a tiebreak by the skin of his teeth, but got an edge late in that tiebreak, and scraped his way 6-1 5-7 7-6 into the round of 16.

Kei Nishikori blitzkrieged through his second consecutive match, this time it was a 6-2 6-2 drubbing of Viktor Troicki as the Serbian #2 was hopeless from the start. Nishikori did not play well in Indian Wells, but he has really upped his game in Miami and looks capable of challenging the remaining names in the draw.

David Ferrer won 6-4 7-5 over Lukas Rosol, it was a bad matchup for the Czech, as Ferru was consistent from the ground and eventually lulled him into too many errors. Rosol put up a good fight and made it a match in set 2, but Ferrer broke in the final game of the match, on his fifth match point chance. It should be noted that Rosol had six break point chances in the first set, and failed to convert, as he simply let too much on the table against Ferrer.

Alex Dolgopolov, normally a fan favorite, dealt with a hostile crowd to send off Thomaz Bellucci 7-5 6-4. Dolgopolov went on a hot streak from late in the first set, to early in the second, and was a set and a break up. Bellucci would attempt a comeback, as he had done in previous two wins (over Hewitt and Cuevas), rather than simply giving up, but it was not to be, as Dolgo simply moved too well and was too defensively sound for the Brazilian’s ball bashing to bother him.

Embed from Getty Images

David Goffin was more consistent than Jerzy Janowicz on the day winning 6-4 6-3, Goffin didn’t serve as good as he could have, but Janowicz couldn’t stick with him on the ground. Gilles Simon won an errorfest with Alejandro Falla 6-3 6-4, there were no winners after more than a dozen points into the match, and that type of stateline should demonstrate the type of match it was, as both players felt each other out, and Simon was able to bait his opponent into more errors.

Embed from Getty Images

Williams sisters, Lisicki roll on

Venus and Serena Williams booked their place in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open on Monday with solid wins. Venus impressive beat Dane Caroline Wozniacki 6-3 7-6, while Serena beat the veteran Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2 6-3. Sabine Lisicki won her seventh match in nine tries, all at premier level as she drubbed Sara Errani 6-1 6-2. Lisicki will now have to deal with the machine that is Serena.

Embed from Getty Images

Simona Halep (6-3 7-5 over Flavia Pennetta), Andrea Petkovic (6-1 7-5 over Ekaterina Makarova), Carla Suarez Navarro (5-7 6-0 6-4 over Aga Radwanska in an impressive hard court win), Karolina Pliskova (6-3 6-2 over the promising Daria Gavrilova), and Sloane Stephens (6-4 7-6 over Belinda Bencic) round out the WTA quarterfinalists in Miami.

Embed from Getty Images

Pospisil/Sock beat Bolelli/Fognini again

After a win over them in the Indian Wells doubles final, Pospisil/Sock again beat Bolelli/Fognini, this time in a 6-2 6-3 blowout win. Joining them as ATP doubles quarterfinalists are Rojer/Tecau who beat Cabal/Farah 6-7 6-3 10-2 in a huge comeback win, Draganja/Kontinen who beat Bellucci/Souza 6-3 6-3 , Anderson/Chardy who dominated Almagro/Garcia-Lopez 6-1 6-2, and Melo/Soares, who kept Brazilian fans hopes alive with a 7-5 4-6 10-7 victory over Jamie Murray/Peers.

Embed from Getty Images

As for the WTA doubles quarterfinalists, one spot remains to be filled but so far it’s Garcia/Srebotnik who beat Chan/Jankovic 6-1 6-3, Hradecka/Hlavackova who beat Jans-Ignacik/Klepac 6-4 6-4, and the Rodionova sisters who beat Muguraza/Suarez-Navarro 7-5 6-1.

Big servers Isner and Raonic to meet in highlighted Tuesday match

The action will focus on the men Tuesday in Miami, as just two WTA singles matches are on the docket. John Isner and Milos Raonic will clash in a match that is likely to see at least one tiebreak, both have looked good at points this tournament, but with Isner perhaps looking better, he will have a punchers chance against the Canadian number #1, who has outshone him in recent months with better results.

A clash of styles will be evident between Gael Monfils and Tomas Berdych in their round of 16 meeting, Monfils is of course incredibly athletic and fleet footed, while Berdych can bludgeon the ball and has a good offensive attack. Adrian Mannarino and Dominic Thiem will meet for the first time, as it’s a great chance for both of these underdog winners to grab Masters quarterfinal level points.

Novak Djokovic will have to deal with creative shotmaker Alex Dolgopolov, who has been playing great this week, that match will be the toughest Novak has faced so far but he’s still the heavy favorite. Juan Monaco and Fernando Verdasco should delight fans, as it’s a great chance at quarterfinal points for either, Verdasco riding the momentum of a huge win over Rafael Nadal in the previous round. That matchup should feature long rallies, as will the one between grinders David Ferrer and Gilles Simon. Kei Nishikori will take on the similarly undersized but technically sound David Goffin, who is a huge underdog, and Andy Murray will have to return well against big server Kevin Anderson if he is to avoid the upset.

Pospisil/Sock, and Martina Hingis will be back in doubles action on Tuesday, and the WTA matches are Petkovic/Pliskova and Venus Williams/Suarez Navarro, so be on the lookout for those matchups.

Embed from Getty Images

2015 ATP Miami Preview and Predictions
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

Tennis Atlantic is pleased to have credentialed onsite coverage of the Miami Open all week long from our correspondent Esam Taha who will be reporting from the grounds of the Miami Open on all of the happenings. As an appetizer to that coverage, here is a preview of the Men’s draw.

2015 ATP Miami Preview

Miami Open presented by Itau
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Miami, FL, USA
March 25-April 4, 2015
Prize Money: $5.381,235

Top 8 seeds (All 32 seeds receive first round byes) (ATP ranking in parentheses)
1: Novak Djokovic (1)
2: Rafael Nadal (3)
3: Andy Murray (4)
4: Kei Nishkori (5)
5: Milos Raonic (6)
6: David Ferrer (7)
7: Stan Wawrinka (8)
8: Tomas Berdych (9)

Two-time Miami Champ and Indian Wells finalist Roger Federer opted to skip Miami to spend time with his family, Marin Cilic is out with a shoulder injury, and Richard Gasquet (back) and Nick Kyrgios (ankle) join Cilic on the list of injured players out of Miami. Veterans Philipp Kohlschreiber, Julian Benneteau, and Andreas Seppi are also out, but the rest of the top 50 will be playing this Masters event.

First round matchups to watch:

Embed from Getty Images

Alex Dolgopolov vs. Ricardas Berankis

The more accomplished Dolgopolov should be favored against Berankis, but he will be under great pressure in Miami, as he’s defending quarterfinalist points, his ranking already having dropped out of the top 60 due to his failure to defend his semifinalist points from Indian Wells. Berankis meanwhile is one of the biggest underachievers on tour, as he was a former top junior and now at 24 is still ranked outside the top 70. That said, the undersized ballstriker Berankis is in relatively good form as he reached a semifinal at a challenger in Poland, and the quarterfinals in Zagreb in his last two events. Dolgopolov meanwhile isn’t playing that poorly, even with his ranking having dropped, as he won two matches in Indian Wells, and prior to that reached the quarters in Delray and Acapulco, all outdoor hard court events. Dolgo has a prior win over Berankis at the Australian Open, and I still expect him to win but this match could be closer than expected between talented shotmakers.

Steve Johnson vs. Mikhail Kukushkin

Johnson, who is on the verge of reaching the top 40 and hasn’t lost a match in the opening round at any tournament this season, is favored, and should beat the top Kazakh player Kukushkin, but expect a competitive contest. Johnson is 2-0 against Kukushkin in his career, with both meetings taking place on outdoor hard, but Kukushkin has been streakily good at points this season, including in Davis Cup play, and in Sydney where he reached the final as a qualifier. Johnson comes off the third round in IW and has three ATP quarterfinals, all on hard courts, as his best results on the year, while Kukushkin was injured in his last match, an opening round exit in Indian Wells. This is another good form test for Stevie J.

Marcos Baghdatis vs. Simone Bolelli

A battle of talented veterans with big hitting groundstrokes, Bolelli has a lone win over Baghdatis years ago but that was on clay, and Baghdatis may have the inside track to even up the h2h and win this match, given his superior recent form. The Cypriot veteran reached the quarterfinals in the stacked Irving Challenger in between IW and Miami, with two wins over quality ATP players and has an ATP semifinal (Zagreb) and a third round showing in Melbourne on his resume. Bolelli has a pair of quarterfinals on his resume but he’s a pedestrian 2-3 in his last 5 matches, though two of those losses were to top 10 players (Tomas Berdych and Milos Raonic). This match should be enjoyable as both players can really work the ball into tight spaces and are tactically smart.

Embed from Getty Images

Vasek Pospisil vs. Juan Martin Del Potro

Del Potro is playing his first match since Sydney, having rehabbed his injury again, and he will face off with the IW doubles champion Pospisil, who has yet to reach even a quarterfinal at any tournament in singles this season. 4 of Pospisil’s 7 losses this season have come against top 10 players, including his most recent one in Indian Wells to Andy Murray, and with that in mind, unless fatigue is an issue, I still expect the Canadian to beat the rusty Argentine, though with time Del Potro can return to being a top 20 player on the tour.

Pablo Carreno Busta vs. (WC)Andrey Rublev

17 year old wild card Rublev, the top Russian young gun on the tour, will be playing his second ATP event of the season, as he was also granted a wild card in Delray Beach just up the road from Miami. In that tournament, he reached the second round as he beat Dudi Sela in his opening match, and he has a nice chance to score his second ATP win over the dirtballer PCB. Carreno Busta is just 2-7 this season and he’s lost three straight matches, on top of that, he’s not a quality hard court player. That said, Rublev may not be his best either as he lost in qualies to Kyle Edmund in Irving. Though I doubt he will dominate, I do have Rublev winning this match in an upset ranking wise, though his future is much brighter than Carreno’s.

Embed from Getty Images

Sergiy Stakhovsky vs. Nicolas Almagro

Stakhovsky has been in good form this season, while Almagro is 0-2 on hard courts, and will be playing his first match since January on the surface. Almagro does have a lone h2h win on hard courts over Stakhovsky in 2011, and he played relatively well on South American clay but he’s still finding his feet having come off an injury and Stako should be a small favorite over the fan-favorite Spaniard. While Stako is just 2-2 on his last four, prior to that he had two quarterfinals and a semifinal showing all at the ATP level post Australian Open, and neither of his losses, to Tomas Berdych in Indian Wells, and Tim Smyczek in Irving were bad, so I have him getting through this with his serve and volley style in 3 sets.

Djokovic’s section:

The four-time, and defending champion Novak Djokovic, who also triumphed in Indian Wells on Sunday, will open his Miami Open campaign against most likely Martin Klizan, assuming Klizan defeats clay courter Paolo Lorenzi. Though Klizan hits a heavy ball, and has the ability to trouble top players, I don’t see him giving Novak much trouble. In the third round, Djokovic, who tends be bothered by big servers, could be in for a struggle against 30 seed Gilles Muller however. The Luxembourger will face Malek Jaziri or qualifier Steve Darcis in his opening match. Jaziri broke a 5 match losing streak by winning a round in Indian Wells, and his h2h is 1-1 with Darcis, the serve and volleying veteran. Muller comes off the semis in Irving, so his serve and volleying appears to be clicking, thus I expect him to beat either Darcis or Jaziri. Djokovic beat Muller in 3 sets at the AO this year, so he should still be favored, not to mention he handled the big serving of John Isner well in Indian Wells.

16 seed Tommy Robredo found some form in Indian Wells as the veteran rejuvenated himself in the desert and reached the third round with a top 15 win over Grigor Dimitrov. That said, I have Dolgopolov advancing over him as long as he beats Berankis, in what would be their first career meeting. Look for the Dolgopolov/Robredo winner to have an inside track to meet Djokovic in the round of 16, as veterans Lleyton Hewitt and Thomaz Bellucci, along with 19 seed Pablo Cuevas are either out of form, or poor on hard courts. Even without having played a singles match since the AO, Hewitt, in his final season, has to be somewhat of a favorite to reach the third round with Bellucci and Cuevas both struggling on hard courts.

David Ferrer, a former finalist, will open with Jiri Vesely or Federico Delbonis. Ferrer lost to Bernard Tomic, earlier than he would have liked, in Indian Wells, but he always tends to play better in Miami, and he can’t be expected to have a hard time with his draw in the early rounds. Delbonis prefers clay and Vesely was sick in Indian Wells, after that, Lukas Rosol, who reached the round of 16 in Indian Wells and broke a lengthy losing streak, is likely opponent. The seeded Rosol will have to deal with the big serving Sam Groth or young gun qualifier Alex Zverev in round 2. Ferrer is 3-0 on hard courts against Rosol with just 1 set dropped.

12 seed Gilles Simon has a rather difficult draw, if he is to reach the round of 16. First up will be the Kukushkin/Johnson winner, and though Simon reached the round of 16 in IW, he didn’t beat any top players to do so, and Johnson is playing well right now, on home soil I’d give the American a great shot at the upset and have him through in my own bracket. Simon/Johnson is likely to face Ivo Karlovic in round 2, assuming Karlovic beats a qualifier (either Michael Berrer or Alejandro Falla both veterans), as he’s a seeded bye. Johnson just beat Karlovic in Indian Wells, and I have him doing so again to reach the round of 16 as an unseeded player.

Nishikori’s section:

Kei Nishikori, who exited in the round of 16 in Indian Wells, likewise with Ferrer earlier than he would have liked, gets his own section of the draw this time and will look to do his best with it. The Japanese should dispatch either Andrey Golubev or slumping veteran Mikhail Youzhny in the second round, and then get a more stern test against the Baghdatis/Bolelli winner or 32 seed Viktor Troicki in round 3. Troicki shockingly exited in the first round in Indian Wells and will look to do better in Miami. That said, Baghdatis is 4-1 against him, with all their matches taking place on hard court, while Bolelli is 2-2 on hard courts, though Troicki won their meeting this year in Sydney. I have Baghdatis into round 3 in my own bracket, and again the h2h favors him, as he’s 4-1 against Nishikori. Even more shockingly, all of those matches came on hard courts, and his four wins were all in straights. Even with that h2h it’s hard for me to pick against this top 5 version of Nishikori, but it does create an interesting upset opportunity for those bold enough to pick it.

Nishikori or another player should be on track for a round of 16 meeting with Roberto Bautista Agut, the 13 seed, if the seeds hold true to form. RBA, who hasn’t had the best of seasons, but is still a top 20 player, exited in his second match in Indian Wells, and will open with Jerzy Janowicz or qualfier Edouard Roger-Vasselin in round 2. RBA beat JJ in Miami last year and he’s in awful form, going just 1-3 since retiring in the Montpellier final. The qualifier ERV may even have a chance of advancing given clay courter Diego Sebastian Schwartzman beat JJ in Indian Wells. That said, JJ is 5-0 against ERV in the h2h and beat him last week in Irving. In the third round, Borna Coric or 18 seed David Goffin are the most likely opponent for Bautista Agut. Goffin, who just 2-3 since Melbourne, may have trouble with Coric, who has played well this season, and qualified in Indian Wells. Though Goffin beat Coric in Basel last year, that match went 3 sets and the young gun is improving all the time. He will have a repeat of his round 1 in Indian Wells against Andreas Haider-Maurer in round 1. RBA-Coric is intriguing matchup, and I’m going bold and putting Coric into the round of 16 myself.

Embed from Getty Images

9 seed Grigor Dimitrov continues to play below his ranking, he will get the Pospisil/Del Potro winner in the opening round, and if he gets through that, John Isner could prove to be trouble in the third round. Isner played his best tournament of the season as he reached the round of 16 in Indian Wells, and on home soil he should defeat the Golubev/Carreno Busta winner to setup a meeting with Dimitrov. They have never met before, but I have Isner through, as I feel he’s rounding into form and Dimitrov has performed below expectations all season.

Embed from Getty Images

5 seed and Indian Wells semifinalist Milos Raonic will look to remain immune to upsets against lower ranked players. His first match will be against Pablo Andujar or Teymuraz Gabashvili, with both players in poor form, and Gabashvili having failed to win an ATP match this season. Raonic has a good draw, as he should also dominate with his big serve against Jeremy Chardy/Ryan Harrison/Jurgen Melzer in the third round. Melzer qualified for IW, and Harrison is playing reasonably well this year and Chardy is just 7-8 on the season, though he’s the seed, I have Melzer or Harrison through to the third round, and in my own bracket I have Harrison, who will then fall to Raonic almost certainly.

Embed from Getty Images

Murray’s section:

Two-time champion and last year’s finalist Andy Murray, who also reached the semis in Indian Wells, in a good week for him, will open with Donald Young or Rendy Lu. Young should beat Lu on home soil, given he’s playing well against all but the top players, but Murray dominated him in Davis Cup and I expect the same again. In round 3, Murray will also have a relatively easy draw, as the seed is the 27 Santiago Giraldo, while Kyle Edmund or qualifier Robin Haase are the other options. Edmund reached the semifinals in Irving, and with Giraldo struggling, he has a nice shot at the third round, as does Haase who played well in qualifying and shocked Stan Wawrinka in Indian Wells, That was just his second main draw win of the year in IW, and he’s 4-1 in his last five matches. Giraldo is just 1-4 in his last five. I have Haase into the third round to face Murray, who will then reach the round of 16.

Embed from Getty Images

15 seed Kevin Anderson is the seeded favorite for the round of 16, Victor Estrella or Sam Querrey will be his first opponent, and neither of whom are in great form, though Anderson lost early in Indian Wells. Big Kev, like Murray, has a good draw, as his round 3 opponent will be Leo Mayer/Jarkko Nieminen/Marinko Matosevic. Mayer much prefers clay, Matosevic is struggling, and Nieminen is a fading veteran to some extent, though I have the Flying Fin into the third round, Anderson should handle him to reach the round of 16 given the 3-0 h2h record.

7 seed Stan Wawrinka was shocked by Robin Haase in Indian Wells and will look to recover in Miami. His first match could doom him to another opening match defeat as wild card Thanasi Kokkinakis is likely to be his first opponent, assuming the teenage Aussie beats Carlos Berlocq, a clay courter. Wawrinka is on a two match losing streak, and Kokkinakis has won 6 of his last 8, including a round of 16 showing in Indian Wells, where he beat three ATP caliber opponents before losing to his countryman Bernard Tomic in 3 sets. Given fatigue may be somewhat of a factor, I favor Wawrinka to recover and beat Kokkinakis, but that one could very well go three sets as the Aussie is a warrior who doesn’t go out easy in his matches. Wawrinka/Kokkinakis have the inside track for the round of 16, as 28 seed Adrian Mannarino, who is at a career high ranking after reaching the round of 16 in IW, is the likely third round opponent, assuming Mannarino beats Joao Sousa/Albert Ramos. Ramos won two matches in a row on hard courts in Indian Wells, and may upset Sousa who is struggling. Wawrinka and Mannarino have never met.

Embed from Getty Images

10 seed Feliciano Lopez, a quarterfinalist in IW, will face Dominic Thiem or Diego Sebastian Schwartzman in round 2. DSS is 2-2 on hard courts this year and Thiem has really struggled this season (4-7 on the year), thus I have DSS through in an upset. Lopez should face Indian Wells doubles champion, and round of 16 participant Jack Sock in the third round. Sock, who won three matches from a set down in his first tournament back since a hip injury, faces Go Soeda in his first match, and then 21 seed Fabio Fognini would be his round 2 opponent. Sock beat Fognini in the doubles final, and Fognini has struggled in singles all season, especially on hard courts. Given how well he played in IW, improving throughout the tournament, Miami should bode well for Sock, having knocked off the rust off his game. Lopez has a 1-0 h2h record against Sock, and he’s playing well, so that should be enough to get him through to the round of 16, though it should be a quality match.

Embed from Getty Images

Nadal’s section:

A four-time finalist, though he has never won the Miami Open, Rafa will open with the Stakhovsky/Almagro winner, which is not the easiest opening match to have. Still I’d expect the IW quarterfinalist to prevail and setup a third round meeting with Fernando Verdasco. Verdasco has a qualifier, either James Duckworth or Damir Dzumhur in round 2, and given Nadal is 6-0 against him on hard courts, Nadal should reach the round of 16.

14 seed Ernests Gulbis continues to struggle, and Juan Monaco should give him the boot in round 2. Monaco opens with qualifier Ruben Bemelmans and is playing well at the moment as he’s 8-3 in his last three tournaments, he beat Marin Cilic in Indian Wells. Gulbis is just 1-6 in his 7 matches this season and their h2h is relatively even. Benjamin Becker/Jan-Lennard Struff and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez all have relatively equal odds to reach the third round. Struff and Becker, Davis Cup teammates, meet in the opening round, and I have Struff winning that one, and then I have GGL advancing and snapping a two match losing streak in round 2. Struff does have a lone h2h win over GGL last season, but the Spaniard is slightly more talented. Monaco and GGL have a 2-2 hard court h2h, and I have Monaco reaching the round of 16 given his good form, the Miami crowd should also be behind him.

Embed from Getty Images

8 seed Tomas Berdych played well in Indian Wells, except for the semifinal, and he should get through his first match against either Hyeon Chung, a young gun wild card, or Marcel Granollers. Berdych should also be favored over Bernard Tomic, though the 25 seed has had an excellent season. He withdrew from the IW quarterfinals with tooth and back problems, and he could lose to qualifier Austin Krajicek or Denis Istomin in round 2, but no matter, Berdych, who beat him in Melbourne, has the inside track to reach the round of 16. I have Krajicek upsetting Tomic in my own bracket. Istomin just beat Krajicek in IW, but I also see that result reversing, as it was a close match and AK played well in qualies.

11 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and 17 seed Gael Monfils are both back on tour this week. Tsonga opens with qualifier Adrian Menendez-Maceiras or American Tim Smyczek. Smyczek was a finalist in Irving, and Tsonga hasn’t played a match this year, so with rust playing a factor, I’m going with Smyczek in a big upset. With Monfils 9-3 on the season, he should have a better run than Tsonga, his first opponent will be non-hard courter Dusan Lajovic or qualifier Filip Krajinovic, a Serb like Lajovic. After that expect him to defeat Smyczek/Tsonga for a spot in the round of 16.

Dark Horses: Steve Johnson, Borna Coric, Jack Sock, Juan Monaco

Embed from Getty Images

Johnson will likely need to beat Kukushkin, then seeds Simon and Karlovic but he has a shot at reaching the round of 16 and facing Ferrer. He would be an underdog there, but as Tomic showed, Ferrer is beatable.

Coric must beat Goffin and likely RBA to reach the round of 16, but it would be massive result for the young gun who has already reached a pair of 500 level semifinals in his career, including in Dubai earlier this year.

Sock, presuming he beats Fognini and upsets Lopez, would have a winnable match with Wawrinka/Kokkinakis likely on his plate in the round of 16, and could reach the quarterfinals on home soil.

Embed from Getty Images

I have Monaco reaching the round of 16 with wins over seeds Gulbis and Garcia-Lopez, though he will have little chance against Nadal, his best pal, at that stage.

Predictions:

Round of 16:
Djokovic d. Dolgopolov
Ferrer d. Johnson
Nishikori d. Coric
Raonic d. Isner
Lopez d. Wawrinka
Murray d. Anderson
Berdych d. Monfils
Nadal d. Monaco

Djokovic is 3-0 against Dolgo and playing lights out right now, Ferrer and Johnson have never met but I have the Spaniard returning to his gold standard and reaching the quarters, likewise Nishikori should have the edge on Coric by this stage, and Raonic is a better version of Isner, given their similar styles even though Isner is 2-0 in the h2h, with both meetings having come on hard courts.

Wawrinka is 2-1 against Lopez on hard courts, but Feli is playing better right now so I have him winning an upset. Murray is 2-1 against Anderson and plays well in Miami, Berdych is 3-0 on hard against Monfils, and Nadal is 6-1 against Monaco, though that lone loss was their only hard court meeting. Given they are best friends and frequent doubles partner, they know each other well and Nadal is likely to improve, not get worse in Miami, as he’s played more matches on hard courts.

Quarters:
Djokovic d. Ferrer
Raonic d. Nishikori
Murray d. Lopez
Nadal d. Berdych

Djokovic has won his last six hard court meetings against Ferrer, and given how well he’s playing right now, has to be a strong favorite. Raonic is just 2-5 against Nishikori, and lost to him this season but Raonic won their outdoor hc match in Brisbane, and he’s playing very well right now, in what should be a close match. Murray just beat Lopez in IW, and it’s a good matchup for him, and Nadal normally dominates Berdych. Even though Tomas won their AO meeting, I have Nadal getting revenge and reaching the semis.

Semis:
Djokovic d. Raonic
Murray d. Nadal

Djokovic is 5-0 against Raonic and beat him this year at the AO. Nadal and Murray are a close 6-5 in the hard court h2h, and Murray is playing better right now on the surface, so thus I have him sneaking past to the final in a close match.

Final:
Djokovic d. Murray

Djokovic dominated Murray in Indian Wells, and likewise in Australia, Murray has struggled against the other big 3, and Djokovic is too much for him right now. If Novak is committed and focused, he’ll win Miami again, just like last year’s quarterfinal.

Embed from Getty Images

Steen Kirby (Marseille)

Kudla a Cool customer in Delray, Joins Dolgopolov & Karlovic in Round 2 @DelrayBeachOpen
Jessica Luzadas for Tennis Atlantic

2015 Delray Beach Open Day 3 Recap

American Denis Kudla continued his solid start to 2015, with a round 1 win in Delray Beach over Slovak Lukas Lacko 6-3 6-4. From the start of the match Kudla looked energetic and confident. He quickly won the first set with solid and consistent strokes, mixing in quality serving to take Lacko off guard. Kudla’s cool calm and collective nature seemed to frustrate Lacko, causing him to rack up unforced errors as he overhit on his shots and went for too much when fed a steady diet of clean returns and defensive slices by Kudla. Both players had to deal with tough weather conditions, primarily strong winds and a bright sunshine that disrupted the players field of vision at times, Kudla managed to stay composed and ahead in the sets, which resulted in a comfortable victory for the American. Lacko only broke Kudla once in the match, in set 2, which was slightly more competitive, and Kudla saved 6 of 7 break point chances he faced, in the end the match was over in just over 1 hour.

#3 seed Alex Dolgopolov joined Kudla with a winning start, Dolgo faced a relatively stern test from Russian veteran Teymuraz Gabashvili, but prevailed in an hour and a half 7-6(4) 6-3. Dolgopolov, was, as to be expected given his playstyle, the more aggressive competitor in this one, while Gabashvili’s skillset was limited to baseline defense and rallying. Dolgopolov generated more break point chances (8) and won nearly twice as many return points as Gabashvili did on the Dolgopolov serve. In this contest, Dolgo’s form varied, but after saving break point chances in set 2, after taking the first set tiebreak, Dolgopolov broke Gabashvili himself and then held onto his serve the rest of the way to finish off the match.

Ivo Karlovic won the late match, over fellow big server Dustin Brown. Karlovic, rather astoundingly continued his record of having never won a tiebreak against the German (0-4 in tiebreaks in all of their matches put together), but still won anyway 6-3 6-7(3) 6-2. Brown’s form was rather disappointing given the 2-0 h2h record going into the match in his favor. He got broken early in set 1, which as one knows, almost always results in Karlovic winning the set when he gets a break, and though he hung around in set 2, and then read Karlovic’s serve well in that tiebreak, in set 3 he looked emotionally fatigued out there, broken and then comfortably dispatched. Karlovic put up 23 aces and won nearly 80% of his service points, in a match where both players came to net on at least half the points.

Men’s singles qualifying also concluded today in Delray on the outer courts, JP Smith beat American vet Robby Ginepri 3-6 6-3 6-0, American Eric Quigley upset another veteran competitor, Victor Hanescu, in a 3 set battle 6-3 5-7 6-4. Quigley, will be I believe, making his ATP main draw debut in Delray Beach, having qualified for his maiden ATP event. Thanasi Kokkinakis also qualified in the most straightforward fashion of all the competitors, beating Alex Kuznetsov 6-1 6-3. Last but not least, Yoshito Nishioka beat Sekou Bangoura 7-6 6-4 for the final qualifying spot. Nishioka, who is primed to rise at a young age, is also making his ATP main draw debut this week.

When it comes to qualifier placement in the main draw, Smith was placed against top seed Kevin Anderson, Quigley was placed against 5 seed Adrian Mannarino, Kokkinakis will play Filip Krajinovic in a great chance for him to reach round 2, and Nishioka will face Igor Sijsling of The Netherlands for his maiden ATP main draw match.

In doubles main draw action, Eric Butorac and Rajeev Ram beat Mikhail Kukushkin/Rendy Lu 7-5 4-6 10-4, Bernard Tomic and Viktor Troicki beat all the Aussie tandem of Sam Groth and Chris Guccione 6-7(10) 6-2 10-7, and Raven Klaasen and Leander Paes, a doubles specialist pairing, toppled Malek Jaziri and Marino Matosevic 6-3 7-6.

Many of the main draw players including Sam Querrey, and Andrey Rublev were out in force on the practice courts today, and I’ll be back later in the week to cover some of the later round action at the 2015 Delray Beach Open.