Day 1 at the second ATP Masters 1000 of the year, in Miami, won’t feature the seeds yet, but it’ll feature plenty of exciting matches between evenly matched players. One of the players making his debut tomorrow is Gael Monfils, who’s trying to make a comeback to the top after a serious injury sidelined him for the better part of a year. As always, we at LWOT have the preview and prediction for that match and all other happenings around the grounds of Miami. We split the rest between three matches–featuring Andy Murray vs Dusan Lajovic, Marton Fucsovics vs Pedro Cachin, and Fabio Fognini vs Jan-Lennard Struff. Who do you think will advance?
ATP Miami Day 1 Predictions
Oscar Otte vs Brandon Nakashima
Head-to-head: first meeting
On grass this would be a very even match, with Otte having a great chance to win, but on hard court it really should be one way traffic in Nakashima’s favor. The 2022 NextGen champion hasn’t had a good start to the season, but he should start turning that around here and steadily making his way up the rankings.
Prediction: Nakashima in 2
Guido Pella vs Juan Pablo Varillas
Head-to-head: Pella 2-0 Varillas
Pella is ranked outside the Top 500 due to having missed all of 2022, but he has shown a decent level so far on his return and against Varillas on hard court he certainly has a very good chance to get an important win here. Varillas is a typical clay specialist and even on a slow hard court he’s far from a scary opponent.
Prediction: Pella in 3
Alexander Bublik vs Jeffrey John Wolf
Head-to-head: Wolf 2-0 Bublik
This is a very unpredictable matchup as both players are extremely streaky and erratic, but Wolf might actually be the steadier of the two as hard as it may seem to believe. After strong runs in Australia and Dallas, Wolf has been struggling but he has shown the potential to rise a bit further up the rankings than his current #50.
Prediction: Wolf in 3
Ugo Humbert vs Gael Monfils
Head-to-head: Humbert 1-0 Monfils
Given his current ranking, age, and injury history, it would not be a shock if Monfils was done at the highest level, but as one of the most entertaining players to ever play this sport we can only hope he still has something left to give. His level in Indian Wells and Phoenix wasn’t encouraging, but he’s giving it another go here in Miami against his countryman Ugo Humbert, who’s certainly a very clear favorite here given current circumstances.
Prediction: Humbert in 3
Main Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
