The third round of the ATP Miami Open draws to a close in Florida on Monday when the Hard Rock Stadium grounds will see the bottom half of the competition playing down to the last 16 stage of the latest Masters 1000 event.
We were due to have eight matches on the three main courts on Monday but Alex Molcan has withdrawn from his match with Daniil Medvedev which leaves us with seven with Stefanos Tsitsipas now the headline act on show.
Stadium Court
It is Stefanos Tsitsipas who opens up the action on the main stadium court on Monday. He will headline one of just two men’s matches inside the Hard Rock Stadium when he takes on a Cristian Garin who is very much starting to show some of the form he did in his better days. The other men’s match on this court was meant to be the Medvedev one but that has been flexed out and instead the night session will see the home man Frances Tiafoe looking to reach the last 16 when he takes on the Italian player Lorenzo Sonego.
Grandstand
We still have three matches on the Grandstand court on Monday but we have to wait for a women’s match to be completed before the first of them. When the men do take to the court the home player Mackenzie McDonald will look to move into the last 16 when he meets Quentin Halys. When they are done two men who faced each other in Indian Wells a couple of weeks ago do battle once again when Felix Auger-Aliassime takes on Francisco Cerundolo. The last of the men’s matches on the Grandstand court sees the former champion Hubert Hurkacz facing Adrian Mannarino.
Special Offer
OPEN AN ACCOUNT WITH 888SPORT AND BET £10 TO GET £30 IN FREE BETS PLUS A £10 CASINO BONUS! PERFECT OFFER TO USE ON THIS TOURNAMENT! CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO JOIN. USE CODE 30F. NEW ACCOUNTS ONLY. 18+ T&Cs apply (See image for significant terms). Gamble Aware.
Butch Buchholz
That leaves us with just the two matches over on the Butch Buchholz court on Monday with one of our two remaining outright picks opening up the show when Karen Khachanov goes up against the promising Czech player Jiri Lehecka. We have to wait right until the end of the schedule for the other men’s match. That sees another American player taking to the court on Monday evening when Christopher Eubanks meets Gregoire Barrere.
Betting
There is one bet that I like the look of on Monday and it comes over on the Grandstand where I think Mackenzie McDonald will have too much for Quentin Halys. I would have said that anyway but when you think Halys went for nearly 3.5 hours with Alex de Minaur in some pretty extreme conditions on Saturday, you wonder what the French player will have left in his legs here, particularly in the extreme part of the day heat wise.
Even if he has got enough in him, Halys has his work cut out here because McDonald has been in good form this year. He clearly took confidence from beating Rafael Nadal in straight sets in the Australian Open, even if it was an injured Spaniard, and in the American hard court scene it has taken Frances Tiafoe, Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul and Holger Rune to beat him and Halys is none of those. McDonald beat Matteo Berrettini in the previous round which is another good win and that made him 14-7 for the year. That was a good prep for a similar test here albeit against a player who does the same things as Berrettini only not as good. When McDonald gets to grips with the Halys serve, which might lack a bit of pep the longer this one goes, then I think he’ll run out a fairly comfortable winner.
Tips
Back M.McDonald (-2.5 games) to beat Q.Halys for a 3/10 stake at 1.85 with William Hill
Back him here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2023
