The second round of the ATP Miami Open begins on Friday when one half of the draw gets played out in full around the grounds at the Hark Rock Stadium as the seeded players get their racquets out in Florida for the first time this week.
That means we have some big players taking to the courts over the course of the day, although there is a chance none of them will get on because it has to be said that the forecast for the entire day is absolutely terrible.
Stadium Court
It is a day where we are due to have three matches on the Stadium Court on Friday and the first of the men’s games comes after a women’s contest has been completed. When it comes along the Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner will be on court against his Italian compatriot Andrea Vavassori. The day session concludes with the second men’s match which is due to see the American number one Taylor Fritz going up against the qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild. The last men’s match on the schedule is due to close out the show when the defending champion Daniil Medvedev gets his title defence up and running with a clash against Marton Fucsovics.
Grandstand
That means there are just the two matches scheduled for the Grandstand court from the ATP draw. It is the women who get things underway but when they are done we have an entertaining looking clash between Denis Shapovalov and Stefanos Tsitsipas to look forward to should the weather play ball. The other men’s match closes out the show when the home star Frances Tiafoe takes on the Australian player Christian O’Connell who has the potential to be a dangerous challenger.
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Butch Buchholz
There are three men’s matches over on the Butch Buchholz court on Friday and the fact that they are the first three games on the schedule at least gives them a chance of being played should the weather relent a little. It is Andrey Rublev who will open up the show when he takes on Tomas Machac before Andy Murray looks to move into the third round in Miami again when he faces Tomas Martin Etcheverry before the men’s action concludes with Casper Ruud opening his Miami campaign against the exciting young French player Luca Van Assche.
Best of the Rest
That leaves another eight matches around the grounds should the weather play the game. The Indian Wells semi-finalist Tommy Paul will be among the schedule on Court 1, as will the British number one Cameron Norrie. Tallon Griekspoor, Nicolas Jarry, Ugo Humbert, Sebastian Baez and Alexander Bublik are just some of the other seeded players on show if the rain stays away long enough for the entire order of play to be completed.
Betting
I’m not really interested in getting too involved in a schedule which is likely to fall apart with the weather on Friday but there is a bet where the price surprised me so even if we have to wait until Saturday for it to come along I think it is worth taking. That comes in the match between Tallon Griekspoor and the home player Alex Michelsen where I would have the Dutch player a much stronger favourite than he presently is.
I think it is fair to say that Griekspoor isn’t having the 2024 he would desire so far but at the same time I don’t think it has been a terrible one. There is certainly nothing to suggest that he is a million miles away from the player who reached the final in Washington last year where Gael Monfils and Taylor Fritz were among his victims. Michelsen will probably give this his all on home soil and in front of a home crowd but he has only won successive matches in the same event once since the Australian Open and I suspect he’ll come up short in his quest for a second win this week too.
Tips
Back T.Griekspoor to beat A.Michelsen for a 3/10 stake at 1.85 with Betway
