The Quarterfinals at the Miami Open 2021 begin with Spanish veteran Roberto Bautista Agut taking on one of the ATP’s hottest commodities Daniil Medvedev, and the surprise packet Alexander Bublik taking on rising star Jannik Sinner. Here is your match previews and predictions.
Roberto Bautista Agut vs Daniil Medvedev
The top seed and biggest name left standing in the Miami draw, Daniil Medvedev is looking to defeat Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut for the first time (RBA leads h2h 2-0). The Russian bounced back nicely from a difficult match against Alexei Popyrin where he experienced cramping, his round of 16 result a straight sets victory against American Frances Tiafoe. Though his wins have largely come against opponents ranked much lower than him, Medvedev is on a seven match winning streak that would extend to 10 matches if he wins the Miami Open. Overall he’s 17-3 on the year with the Marseille title and the Australian Open final already on his rapidly growing resume.
Bautista Agut will derive confidence from his past wins against Medvedev, he comes off a difficult win against John Isner in the previous round and has also had a good past year on the ATP tour (32-16 since the start of 2020). RBA reached the Doha and Montpellier finals and is piling on ranking points, with both of his Miami wins coming in three sets. This match should be competitive but in his current form Medvedev is too tough to beat on most days. Medvedev in 2
Alexander Bublik vs Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner just beat Bublik in three sets in Dubai on outdoor hard courts, it’s difficult to see this match reversing that result as Sinner is seeking a second ATP title in 2021. The Italian beat Karen Khachanov in three sets and then routined Emil Ruusuvuori in his last match. In every ATP tournament this season, Sinner has reached the quarterfinals or better. A finalist in both Antalya and Singapore, Alexander Bublik’s 15 ATP wins already in 2021 matches his career high for any season on the ATP tour. He won in three sets against Taylor Fritz in the previous round, and should be competitive here. I have Sinner in a close one. Sinner in 3
Main Photo:
