The Miami Open tennis tournament from Crandon Park Tennis Center has arrived at the quarterfinals and so have our tennis picks. We had a successful day with our tennis picks yesterday as we went 3-0 with our picks. We were laying a lot of juice in the matches, so that was important. Novak Djokovic took care of business against Dominic Thiem in straight sets, winning 6-3, 6-4. Kei Nishikori also had a relatively easy time of things as he discarded Roberto Bautista in straight sets, winning 6-2, 6-4. Lastly, Nick Kyrgios was pushed in the first set by Andrey Kuznetsov – he needed to win a tiebreaker – but then he ended up winning in straight sets too.
Wednesday is a day for the first two of four quarterfinals. Multiple stories are being written at this tournament – some by the pre-tournament favorite, the other by a Belgian player who is on the cusp of making more history for himself.
Novak Djokovic vs. Tomas Berdych
Betting Odds: Djokovic -1000
This is a matchup which could very possibly become complicated in a best-of-three-set situation. This was the final of the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 event last spring, won by Djokovic in a fairly close scoreline. Berdych always has the ability to shorten points by flattening out his backhand, which he can crush for winners from various positions. Berdych’s game is a genuinely threatening kind of game, one which can take the racquet out of his opponent’s hands. If Berdych is on, very few men can beat him.
However, Berdych is rarely at the very top of his game. He comes and goes, and he often fights himself in the earlier rounds of tournaments. It’s true that he’s reached the quarterfinals in Key Biscayne, but his 2016 season has shown that when he gets into the ring against a higher-ranked player, he usually doesn’t punch back very well or effectively. He got straight-setted by Roger Federer in the Australian Open quarterfinals, and then in Indian Wells, Milos Raonic straight-setted him to send him packing. Berdych is very good at beating the players he’s supposed to beat, but his problem has been that he doesn’t beat the best players on the ATP Tour nearly as often as she should, or as he’d like to. Berdych doesn’t inspire the confidence a bettor needs to have if he’s going to make an upset play at the betting window. The pick here has to be Djokovic, if only because Berdych has proven that he’s not someone who ordinarily pulls off surprises. Take Djokovic with your tennis picks here.
Pick: Djokovic in straight sets
David Goffin vs. Gilles Simon
Betting Odds: Goffin -122
This is a match in which one player is going to make a nice little pickup of points. Neither player made the quarterfinals of Miami last year, so the winner of this match will get to the semifinals and achieve a noticeable boost in the rankings.
Simon could play Djokovic in the semifinals. What’s worth noting about Simon is that in January, his defense and court coverage frustrated Djokovic, forcing the top-ranked player in the world to commit 100 unforced errors over five sets. Not many tennis players can say that they bothered Novak Djokovic and caused him to commit that many errors in one match. Simon doesn’t hit the ball hard, but he gets the ball back and resets so many points to neutral positions with his defense, which has long been accepted as some of the best defense on the ATP Tour.
Goffin is trying to make history. Not only is he trying to make his first Miami Open semifinal; the Belgian is trying to make semifinals at both Miami and Indian Wells in the same year. Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer have done this, as have a few others. Is Goffin ready to do this, however? Simon is a confident player right now, and he has veteran experience Goffin can’t quite match. Take Simon with your tennis picks in this spot.
Pick: Simon in three sets
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