Day three at the ATP Miami Open sees the seeded players enter the tournament with the start of the second round. There are a number of intriguing match ups and, as ever, we here at LWOT will be offering our predictions for every match on the slate, including Lloyd Harris vs Roberto Bautista Agut, Cameron Norrie vs Grigor Dimitrov and Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Pierre-Hugues Herbert. But who will reach the last 32?
ATP Miami Open Day Three Predictions
Taylor Fritz vs Marcos Giron
Head-to-head: Fritz 3-0 Giron
The first match of the day on the Grandstand court is set to be an all-American clash between Taylor Fritz and Marcos Giron. Fritz comes into the Miami Open in good form having pushed Novak Djokovic to five sets in the third round of the Australian Open, before reaching the semifinals of the Qatar Open a fortnight ago. Despite a straight-sets defeat to Andrey Rublev in the second round in Dubai last week, Fritz will surely be confident heading into the ATP Miami Open.
Giron, meanwhile, recorded an impressive straight-sets win over Tommy Paul in the opening round. The 27-year-old has had some difficult draws this season, losing to Alexander Zverev in four sets in the first round at the Australian Open and to Rublev in the opening round in Rotterdam after he came through the qualifying. This could be a close match, but Fritz has the bigger weapons, especially in his serve and forehand. That should give him the edge on the slow Miami hard courts.
Prediction: Fritz in 2
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Ricardas Berankis vs Jan-Lennard Struff
Head-to-head: Struff 4-0 Berankis
Jan-Lennard Struff has enjoyed a swift ascent up the ATP rankings over the past few seasons and possesses one of the most lethal serve and forehand combinations on tour. At least when he is at his best that is. But after winning two of his three singles matches at the ATP Cup, the German has only recorded one more win on the tour this season. However, he did enjoy success in the doubles last week in Dubai, partnering Kevin Krawietz to the semifinals.
Ricardas Berankis has had a solid start to 2021, reaching the last 16 at the ATP Great Ocean Road Open in Melbourne and the second round at the Australian Open a week later. That said, the Lithuanian has been out of action since the Australian Open, so rustiness could be an issue for him, despite a fine start against Federico Gaio. The slow conditions should also give the German the time he needs to really unload on his groundstrokes. Expect him to have too much firepower for Berankis.
Prediction: Struff in 2
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Yannick Hanfmann vs Karen Khachanov
Head-to-head: first meeting
Karen Khachanov has struggled to produce the level of tennis that saw him win the 2018 Paris Masters on a consistent basis. Despite having powerful weapons at his disposal, the Russian has been criticized for being one dimensional. However, Khachanov has made an undeniably good start to the 2021 season, reaching the semifinals at the ATP Murray River Open and the third round at the Australian Open, as well as the quarterfinals in Rotterdam and Marseille. Yannick Hanfmann recorded an impressive straight-sets win over Steve Johnson yesterday, but he has only one other win to his name this year at tour-level. Khachanov should get the win here.
Prediction: Khachanov in 2
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Emil Ruusuvuori vs Alexander Zverev
Head-to-head: first meeting
Zverev comes into the ATP Miami Open fresh from winning the tournament in Acapulco last week, without dropping a set. Question still remain over the German’s second serve, but Zverev looks to have made improvements to the mental side of his game over the off-season and possesses one of the best all-court games on the ATP Tour. He certainly looked sharp in dismantling Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final.
His first-round opponent in Miami, Emil Ruusuvuori, illustrated why he is being tipped to be a star of the future by digging out a three-set win over fellow young gun Carlos Alcaraz in the first round and the Finn has the game to trouble Zverev. But there is a difference between troubling a player and beating them. At this point, Zverev is the more complete tennis player of the two and the German should come through in three sets.
Prediction: Zverev in 3
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