Miami Preview: Men's Edition

Hey Y'all.

Having done the ladies, it is now time to do the rest. The ladies are the stars of the shows, after all.

*DOUBLES PREVIEW*
Mirza lost to Hingis last year in the doubles. That won't happen this year -- they're partners. Hingis has had one of the most successful comebacks this side of Clijsters. A former doubles world number one, she is headed there again. Kops and Spears are on form. They reached two finals this year and a slam quarter. They are 1-1 in those finals and played Mirza both times. Stosur/Raymond came back and made the semi-finals in their first tournament back. I picked it and I'm going one further here. Makarova/Vesnina look good. Garcia/Srebotnik are definitely very talented but I like the Russians just that little bit more. Rankings are on the line here, too.



The final? Hingis/Mirza beat Stosmond 0 and 4 in the semi-finals last tournament out. It will be closer, perhaps three sets. The result will be the same.

The Bryans are the top seeds and Sock/Pospisil second seeds. North America is dominant here. The Bryans will make the final, getting past Djokovic/Tipsarevic en-route to a semi-final victory over Bopanna/Nestor. Mahut/Roger-Vasselin have a great tournament and make the semi-finals. Indian Wells finalists Bolelli/Fognini face Klaasen/Paes then Sock/Pospisil. It's too much to expect another run. The young North Americans go to the final and then win against the aging Bryans.

Here's a very bold prediction: after the next Olympics, Hewitt, Williams, Williams, Bryan, Bryan, Federer and Nadal all retire. There will be others, but those will be the big retirees. It will also be Djokovic and Murray's final Olympics.

Now finally the men's singles...

SECTION 1: DJOKOVIC
...Big lefties Klizan and Muller await Djokovic. Djokovic will play a breaker or two but neither of those can rally with Djokovic. Berankis, Dolgopolov, Hewitt and Bellucci. They will face off against seeds Cuevas and Robredo. And it just screams for a Cinderella story here.
DJOKOVIC D. HEWITT
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SECTION 2: FERRER
...Falla qualified. Johnson and Kukushkin are also here with seeds Simon and Karlovic both looking to rebound from disappointing losses. Karlovic and Simon could not have more contrasting games, but the key will be the first serve of Simon. Ferrer may well start off with talented Vesely. Rosol then awaits the Spaniard. The upset is calling Ferrer's name. Ferrer should stand tall here.
FERRER D. KARLOVIC
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SECTION 3: NISHIKORI
...Nishikori commands a quarter of the draw. He is so good at rebounding and he will do it again. Troicki, Baghdatis and Youzhny are just some of the talented players here. Nishikori may drop a serve or two but a set is far more unlikely. Coric and Janowcicz are playing the role of the future in this part of the draw. Goffin and Agut are the seeds here and one of those four is sure to meet Nishikori. It's in the fourth round where Kei will face the big challenge.
NISHIKORI D. GOFFIN
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SECTION 4: RAONIC
...Seeded at five, this may be the highest Raonic has ever been seeded at a Masters. It's hard to think of anyone more humble or deserving. Del Potro plays Pospisil for the right to take on Dimitrov. That is hard to call. Chardy and Harrison are the big threats to Raonic here, but the things they can do well, and there are multiple things, Raonic does better. Raonic may have to play Dimitrov and Nishikori back to back.
RAONIC D. DIMITROV
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SECTION 5: WAWRINKA
...Kokkinakis will be dangerous, but does he have the energy to make another run? I think Vavsy is looking to bounce back and will. Mannarino is finally getting the seedings that he deserves and is here at 28. This is a nice little section for the other really good Swiss tennis guy.
If this goes the way the talent is indicating, we get Fognini against Sock playing the winner of Thiem vs. Lopez. It would be good to have that. When Feli gets on a roll, he really starts to roll. And with that bit of momentum, he should flow into the fourth round here.
WAWRINKA D. LOPEZ
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SECTION 6: MURRAY
...Querrey and Estrella lurk here. So does Mayer. But Kevin Anderson is unerringly consistent. He just doesn't ever seem to lose to people he shouldn’t. Kyle Edmund was a good junior and is showing promise. Young is also here and he has beaten Murray. Giraldo is just a time bomb who could detonate on anyone, including himself. Murray has the consistency but he needs to be careful.
MURRAY D. ANDERSON
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SECTION 7: BERDYCH
...Chung was a very talented junior. The acid test of whether he has translated well to the big leagues is now. Does Tomic have enough left in the tank [no joke intended] to beat Berdych? No. Tomic struggles against Berdych. Krajimovic plays Lajovic in the rivalry henceforth known as the commentators bane. Smyczek is also here. He is the guy that should have beaten Rafa. Tsonga could play Monfils here.
BERDYCH D. MONFILS
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SECTION 8: NADAL
...Monaco and Gulbis here. Oh look, Garcia-Lopez, too. Verdasco and Almagro are here. Federer had an easy section as the second seed last time. It's Nadal's turn.
NADAL D. GARCIA-LOPEZ
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*4th Round*
Djokovic d. Hewitt
Ferrer d. Karlovic
Nishikori d. Goffin
Raonic d. Dimitrov
Wawrinka d. Lopez
Murray d. Anderson
Berdych d. Monfils
Nadal d. Garcia-Lopez

*QF*
Djokovic d. Ferrer
Nishikori d. Raonic
Murray d. Warinka
Nadal d. Berdych

*SF*
Djokovic d. Nishikori
Nadal d. Murray

*FINAL*
Djokovic d. Nadal

...really quite straightforward.

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