The ATP’s Miami Open Masters tournament begins on Wednesday with first-round play. That’s where we’ll pick up our tennis picks on the men’s side. While the higher seeds get byes in the first round, the lower-end players will try to make crucial gains in terms of rankings points and tour earnings in the early stages of 2017. Of course, we won’t get to see the big names we’re craving for on Wednesday but there will still be plenty of tantalizing action. Some names you might recognize that will be hitting the hard courts are Tommy Haas, Fabio Fognini and Jiri Vesely. In total, there will be 16 different singles matches on the men’s side. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at our tennis picks for Wednesday’s action.
Fabio Fognini vs. Ryan Harrison
Fabio Fognini hasn’t exactly set the world on fire, but has shown signs that he can flourish if he wants. In the Indian Wells Masters event in California, Fognini was bageled in the first set of the opening round by 96th-ranked Russian Konstantian Kravchuk but showed great fight to close him out in three sets. In the second round, the Italian came out guns blazing against world No. 8 Jo Wilfred Tsonga, but no one thought he could pull off something special. Fognini beat the Frenchman with tremendous power from the baseline. Fognini was beaten by a zoning Pablo Cuevas in the third round, but a top-10 win says he is playing at a solid level.
Ryan Harrison has made a great start to the season by winning his maiden ATP title in Memphis, but he would like to bring more consistency to the table. Harrison was so frustrated in his match against Damir Dzumhur in the desert that he demolished multiple racquets after a passage of bad play. We’ll know if he has recovered from that loss when he meets Fognini in the opening round in Miami. The last time Harrison played Fognini, he was edged by the Italian in three sets. However, that was in 2014 when Harrison was nowhere close to his best. This Harrison is ranked in the top 50 and he believes he belongs here.
Pick: Harrison in three sets
Martin Klizan vs. Benoit Paire
This season Martin Klizan has sometimes had horrible luck with draws. Poor play hasn’t helped. When he plays Benoit Paire in the first round in Miami, he will meet his opponent for the first time since 2012 in Winston Salem, where the Slovakian came through in straight sets.
Paire has been equally inconsistent. The Frenchman made semifinals in Chennai and Montpellier, but since then he hasn’t done anything of note, exiting in the opening rounds in several tournaments. Paire is 8-8 this season and has failed to get going. The way he is playing, another early loss won’t be surprising.
Taking a look at the betting line, you do have to lay a little bit of juice if you like Klizan in this spot as he opened up at -140. Anything higher and I’d be looking to fill my picks with a different selection but at this price, I’ll add him to my tennis picks as I expect him to get the job done.
Pick: Klizan in three sets
Donald Young vs. Dustin Brown
Donald Young has been in great form this season. He is improved and has added consistency to his game. Young made it to the last four in Memphis and Delray Beach and has a couple of fourth round finishes in Acapulco and Indian Wells. Young is confident, now 10-5 so far in 2017.
Dustin Brown, although a great talent, spends his time playing challengers and is injured most of the time. Only once has Brown reached a quarterfinal this year, when he lost to Paire in Montpellier. Good news for him: He isn’t playing Dan Evans in round one, who has beaten him in the last two tournaments they’ve played at Indian Wells and Dubai. The bad news is that he is playing Donald Young, who is in great form and also has a win over the German. Take Young with your tennis picks.
Pick: Young in straight sets
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