The ATP Miami Open competition gets underway on Wednesday with the first round of the second half of the Sunshine Swing getting going on what is actually a busy day around the complex in Florida.
Although the seeded players don’t come into the tournament until nearer the weekend we have some decent matches on the schedule and some decent names on the card to get us going throughout the day.
Stadium Court
Arguably the match of the first round gets us started when Ryan Harrison takes on Joao Sousa in a match which could easily go the distance. Pierre-Hugues Herbert goes up against Taylor Fritz in the second match on the main court and then after a couple of women’s matches the night session will kick off with Jared Donaldson going up against Marcos Baghdatis.
Grandstand
We have another tight looking match to get things going on Grandstand when Yuichi Sugita goes up against the Dutch player Robin Haase before the American wildcard Christopher Eubanks takes on the qualifier Michael Mmoh. Mischa Zverev then plays Benoit Paire in what looks like the match of the day on this course and then Guido Pella faces Mikhail Youzhny to round off the action on the second court.
Court 1
After a women’s match gets us going on Court 1, Australian player Matthew Ebden takes on the Frenchman Gilles Simon for a place in the second round with Britain’s Cameron Norrie looking to build on a good qualifying campaign when he faces the Chilean player Nicolas Jarry. Ivo Karlovic takes on Vasek Pospisil in a match with plenty of big serving expected in what is the final men’s match on the court.
Best of the Rest
There will be some decent action going on around the grounds for those with ground passes on the opening day. Great Britain’s Liam Broady faces Bjorn Fratangelo in a battle of the qualifiers while Marton Fucsovics plays Maximilian Marterer in what should be an entertaining battle. Jeremy Chardy faces Rogerio Dutra Silva on Court 8 too.
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Betting
I’ll open up with a couple of bets on the first day of the tournament. They begin with the big match on Grandstand as Benoit Paire takes on Mischa Zverev. The German has really struggled since he has returned from injury this year and I’ve got to think that while Paire is anything but reliable he is the most likely winner of this one. His power should be too much for Zverev who has only won three matches all year and hasn’t beaten anyone ranked inside the top 85. Paire began the year well and if he can get back towards that form he should have more than enough to get this one done.
Marcos Baghdatis eventually had to pull out before his fourth round match in Indian Wells last week with illness so you wonder how he will be this week. He should need to be on top form as he takes on a Jared Donaldson who should be very useful in these conditions despite his disappointment in the desert last week. Donaldson is a man on the up in the rankings whereas Baghdatis is lower down. The Cypriot still has his good weeks, like last week, but by and large he is inconsistent and under the lights I fancy the American will find the inspiration to get this one done.
Tips
WON – Back B.Paire to beat M.Zverev for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Unibet
Back him here:
WON – Back J.Donaldson to beat M.Baghdatis for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
Back him here:
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