Day 2 of the ATP Miami Open is here, and we wrap up the first round. Who do you think will move on to face the seeds in the Round of 64? We share our thoughts on the matches.
ATP Miami Day 2
Emilio Gomez vs Yoshihito Nishioka
Head-to-head: first meeting
Gomez has never established himself as a tour-level player, and hasn’t recorded a tour victory in three tries this season. Nishioka is an established Top 100 player, who has recorded victories this year against Taylor Fritz and Jenson Brooksby, although his season hasn’t been electric. Nishioka plays better on hard court than Gomez, and won their lone matchup earlier this season (not counted in the head-to-head because it was a Challenger). This one might be a plain affair, but the Japanese should come away with it.
Prediction: Nishioka in 3
Laslo Djere vs Arthur Rinderknech
Head-to-head: Djere 1-0 Rinderknech
Despite similar rankings (53 and 58 respectively), this one appears to lean heavily in favor of Rinderknech. First of all, he is having a much better start to the season (10-6, with seven of those wins over players in or near the Top 50, compared to 3-6 for Djere). And secondly, he outpaces the Serb on hard courts by more than double in terms of win percentage. Djere vastly favors clay, which should minimize the significance of his head-to-head win, which was on clay. I feel a little bold calling this one in two, but I like the Frenchman’s advantages.
Prediction: Rinderknech in 2
Aljaz Bedene vs Ugo Humbert
Head-to-head: first meeting
Both players are going the wrong direction in terms of the rankings. Humbert has failed to follow up a great win over Medvedev in his first match of the season with any subsequent victories, and Bedene has only one match played all year. The latter has a fair amount of experience at Miami, and both like the hard courts well enough. If Bedene plays well, he can take advantage of the struggling Frenchman, as he was similarly-ranked as recently as last summer. But Humbert’s win over the #2 player in the world leads me to give him the edge in an uninspiring matchup here.
Prediction: Humbert in 3
Lloyd Harris vs Facundo Bagnis
Head-to-head: Harris 1-0 Bagnis
Neither player comes in on a hot streak, with six wins between them this year. Harris’ slump goes back to late last season, but one of his two wins this year came against Bagnis at Indian Wells. The Argentinian is inexperienced on tour despite being over 30, with only 21 tour-level matches on hard court, and he’s won only a quarter of those. Harris wins over half of his matches on hard, and should be able to pull this one out, though I don’t like the way he’s playing.
Prediction: Harris in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
