Day 1 of the ATP Miami Open will signal the first main draw play of a Masters 1000 event this season. It’s a 96-player draw, so we get a few days of players battling it out to face a seed in the Round of 64. Who will advance on Wednesday? We look at every match on the day. Five matches are in this article, and we have three more articles with the rest of the matches. One article features Mackenzie McDonald vs Vasek Pospisil, the second headlines Cameron Norrie vs Yoshihito Nishioka, and the third features Carlos Alcaraz vs Emil Ruusuvuori.
ATP Miami Open Day 1 Predictions
Sam Querrey vs Yen-Hsun Lu
What has happened to Querrey? He was at least mildly threatening to the men at the top of the game for a while, but he has fallen off a lot recently. The power and talent are still there, though, so he can turn things around at any time. Lu, meanwhile, is known for being a Challenger Tour stalwart, but he’s years past his prime. As long as Querrey serves well, he should win.
Prediction: Querrey in 2
James Duckworth vs Mischa Zverev
Zverev started playing on tour earlier than his younger brother (Alexander), but was quickly surpassed by him. Still the older Zverev plays a great serve-and-volley game, and it can frustrate opponents not used to it. His ranking cratered after a poor 2019 (including some injury troubles), and he recently was playing Futures events. I don’t know if he’ll reclaim his former levels again, but he definitely is not in any position to take on a solid player like Duckworth right now.
Prediction: Duckworth in 2
Ernesto Escobedo vs Paolo Lorenzi
This battle of qualifiers has great potential for all the wrong reasons. Escobedo is a talented young player who has yet to find real footing on the main Tour. Lorenzi is a fighter on court who is well past his prime. This match could go either way, and neither is playing great tennis right now. Ultimately, though, Escobedo is the safer pick.
Prediction: Escobedo in 3
Hugo Gaston vs Dominik Koepfer
Gaston is a rising talent, but Koepfer is a solid player who likes these courts. Expect a good match from this one, but the German is a bit of a stronger player right now, so he’s the smarter pick.
Prediction: Koepfer in 3
Frances Tiafoe vs Stefano Travaglia
Both of these players are talented and playing relatively well right now, though neither has yet really broken through to the top levels of the game. Expect a good match in this one, and it really could go either way. I’ll go with the player with more over-the-top power on faster courts, and in his home country to boot.
Prediction: Tiafoe in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
