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. Four 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 Frances Tiafoe vs Stefano Travaglia.
ATP Miami Open Day 1 Predictions
Feliciano Lopez vs Alexei Popyrin
This should be an entertaining match. Lopez is one of tennis’ underrated ageless wonders, and his style of play lets him stay competitive well beyond his prime. Popyrin, meanwhile, is a future star with a huge serve of his own. I am impressed with the young Australian and his improvement. With two players who serve so well, though, this match could always come down to tiebreaks. And when a match is decided by two or more tiebreaks, it’s literally anyone’s game.
Prediction: Popyrin in 3
Ricardas Berankis vs Federico Gaio
The timing of the pandemic was unfortunate for Gaio’s career, as the journeyman was finally turning a corner. In fact, he won his first hard court Challenger Tour title in January 2020. The Italian has not seen similar success since the Tour’s resumption, though he did go on a decent run last month. Still, he’s not as talented as Berankis, and he’s not playing as well at the moment either. The Lithuanian moves on.
Prediction: Berankis in 3
Alejandro Tabilo vs Mikael Ymer
Tabilo has been impressing recently on the Challenger Tour, and he had a great run through qualifying in Santiago. Ymer has only played one match since his great Australian Open run, but that week in Melbourne is more than enough to trust the Swede’s form right now.
Prediction: Ymer in 3
Carlos Alcaraz vs Emil Ruusuvuori
This match should be the highlight of the day on Wednesday. Two future stars of the game will go at it on one of the biggest non-Slam stages. The hard courts should favor Ruusuvuori, but Alcaraz has shown that he’s no slouch off of clay. I expect a tight match, and neither should succumb to nerves at this stage in the tournament. Ruusuvuori might be a tad more experienced, but I think that Alcaraz is a bit more talented, and that should see him through.
Prediction: Alcaraz in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
