It is semi-final night at the ATP Miami Open on Friday and at one stage of Thursday it looked like we would have the top four seeds battling it out for a spot in the final which comes along on Sunday at the Hard Rock Stadium.
Grigor Dimitrov put a spanner in those plans but the way he played in beating Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday night, he more than deserves his spot in the semis against the rest of the top three seeds in the draw.
Daniil Medvedev vs Jannik Sinner
The opening semi-final of the tournament is a repeat of the final from 12 months ago and the Australian Open from back in January as the defending champion Daniil Medvedev goes up against the Italian ace Jannik Sinner in a mouth-watering clash.
Medvedev won when these two met in Miami last year but it was Sinner who broke the heart of the Russian in Melbourne when he came from two sets down to claim the Australian Open crown so there is plenty of rivalry on this match. Medvedev still hasn’t been at his absolute best for me in this tournament but he has come through without dropping a set to date. Sinner dropped one earlier in the competition but the longer it has gone on the better he has looked. I think in these conditions the more aggressive Sinner is a worthy favourite but Medvedev can never truly be ruled out. I think the odds are about right for this one so I would rather watch without a betting interest than side either way.
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Grigor Dimitrov vs Alexander Zverev
The second semi-final comes along in the night session as the man who dumped out Carlos Alcaraz in fine style in the quarter final, Grigor Dimitrov, takes on Alexander Zverev who will be enjoying his first last four clash here since he made the final in 2018, when the event was still at Crandon Park.
Zverev has made it through to this stage of the competition without dropping a set but it has to be said that Karen Khachanov is the only player he has faced who has been inside the top 30 in the world rankings so the draw has been kind to the German. That isn’t the case for Dimitrov. The Bulgarian has already taken care of Hubert Hurkacz and Carlos Alcaraz and now faces another heavy hitting challenge. Dimitrov won’t need reminding that he has lost the last seven matches against Zverev but in their last 13 sets, five of them have gone to a tiebreak so it isn’t like he has been getting wiped out every time and he is hitting the ball very well at the minute. I think Zverev is probably a worthy favourite, just on that head-to-head alone, but I’d like to see him in a challenge before I’m convinced by his form. I think we could be in for a cracking semi-final here and one in which over 23.5 games is the way forward. Three of their last six sets have gone to a tiebreak including the first two sets when they met in similar conditions at the US Open last season. Something similar here sees the line covered in straight sets but this could easily go to a third set before the finalist is determined. If it does the over looks a formality.
Tips
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