The ATP’s Miami Open Masters tournament enters the fourth round on Tuesday and that’s where we’ll continue our tennis picks. In the fourth round, we’ll see matches that begin to get even more valuable in terms of points. These are 90-point matches, for the right to make the quarterfinals, which can serve as a gateway to an even bigger points pickup later in the week.
Looking back to our tennis picks from Saturday, we had a fairly successful day, going 2-1. Our lone loser on the day was Dominic Thiem, who failed to get anything done against Borna Coric. He lost 6-1, 7-5. However, we bounced back with wins by Roger Federer and Nick Kyrgios.
Rafael Nadal vs. Nicolas Mahut
Playing his 1000th match on the tour, Rafael Nadal wanted to make the milestone match worth remembering. That he did. However, it wasn’t before he overcame an inauspicious start, where he was broken three times to get bageled in the first set by Philip Kohlschreiber. The talented German won 65 percet of Nadal’s service points in the set which lasted a mere 25 minutes. What happened next was far from expected especially after what had materialized in the first set. The Spaniard lost two points on his serve in the second set and only one in the decider. That’s ridiculous even by Nadal’s standards.
Nicolas Mahut, who beat Grigor Dimitrov conquerer Guido Pella in the third round, plays Nadal next. The Frenchman has won four of his last five matches on hardcourt and is trying everything possible to build consistency. Surprising as it may seem, these two have split the previous two meetings and their head to head record stands at 1-1. Mahut can pose problems with his dangerous serving but on a slow hardcourt, you can’t bet against Nadal. Take him with your tennis picks.
Pick: Nadal in straight sets
Fabio Fognini vs. Donald Young
Donald Young has been playing some scintillating tennis of late. Young backed up his fourth-round finish in Indian Wells by reaching the same stage in Miami. He had a tough opener, where he needed three sets to see off Dustin Brown, but other than that he has enjoyed the run. The once junior No. 1 player demolished world No. 15 Lucas Pouille in straights sets in the second round, and then took care of moody Benoit Paire in the round of 32. The good news for Young is he is playing Fabio Fognini, who he has owned in the two previous meetings in Nice (clay) last year and in Vienna (hard) in 2012.
On the other hand, Fognini has shown patience and resistance in his victories over Joao Sousa and Jeremy Chardy. In the third round against Chardy, the Italian found himself trailing by a set but instead of giving up, he showed the desire to fight hard and win. Fognini has always been a great shotmaker but at 29 years of age, he’s realized that it’s not enough to remain consistently relevant on the ATP tour. He hasn’t beaten Young in his career but there is always a first time.
Pick: Fognini in three sets
Kei Nishikori vs. Federico Delbonis
Kei Nishikori, ranked No. 4 in the world, required 165 minutes to overcome Fernando Verdasco’s stiff resistance. The Japanese served for the match at 5-4 in the second set but Verdasco saved a match point to break back and eventually force a decider. In the third set, Nishikori won six of seven games to advance to the round of 16, where he’ll play Federico Delbonis.
The Argentine doesn’t start as a favorite but has reached the fourth round by beating Juan Monaco in round one in straight sets, world No. 19 Pablo Carreno Busta – who is one of the in-form players on tour – in the second round, and Jan-Lennard Struff in the round of 32 in straight sets. Delbonis can serve big and looks like a confident player but it would take something close to a miracle for him to beat Nishikori in Miami. Nishikori may have had some strange losses this season, but he remains unlikely to lose to a random opponent in one of his favorite tournaments. Stick with Nishikori for your tennis picks.
Pick: Nishikori in straight sets
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