MIAMI OPEN TENNIS 2017 – RICKY’S PREVIEW & PICKS INCLUDING FOGNINI VS. HARRISON & DONALD YOUNG VS. DUSTIN BROWN

Written by: Staff on 21st March 2017

MIAMI OPEN TENNIS 2017 - RICKY'S PREVIEW & PICKS INCLUDING FOGNINI VS. HARRISON & DONALD YOUNG VS. DUSTIN BROWN

epa05845095 Donald Young of USA in action against Sam Querrey of USA, during their match at the 2017 BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, USA, 12 March 2017. EPA/MIKE NELSON |

Ricky’s preview and picks for Day 1 in Miami, including Fognini vs. Harrison and Young vs. Brown

By Ricky Dimon

The Miami Open will get underway on Wednesday, when Americans Ryan Harrison and Donald Young will be in action. They are set for respective meetings with Fabio Fognini and Dustin Brown. The schedule also includes Martin Klizan and Benoit Paire.

Ricky previews the matches and makes his predictions.

Fabio Fognini vs. Ryan Harrison

Fognini and Harrison will be squaring off for the second time in their careers on Wednesday. Their only previous meeting came three years ago in Indian Wells, where a typical Fognini affair–complete with controversy and wild momentum swings–went the Italian’s way via a 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 decision. Fognini is coming off another bizarre Indian Wells showing, as he recovered from a set and 4-1 down to defeat Konstantin Kravchuk and then oust Jo-Wilfried Tsonga only to get clobberedby Pablo Cuevas in the last 32. The world No. 40 is a respectable 7-6 this year after starting it 1-4.

Harrison endured a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 opening-round loss to Damir Dzumhur in the desert and all of Harrison’s tennis rackets suffered to an even greater extent. The 47th-ranked American will try to recover and recapture the form that carried him to his first career ATP title in Memphis last month. Harrison, who is 7-3 at the ATP level in 2017, also triumphed at the Dallas Challenge in early February. Unlike Kravchuk at the previous Masters 1000 tournament, Harrison is playing well enough to make Fognini pay for too many mental lapses.

Pick: Harrison in 3

Donald Young vs. Dustin Brown

It is still early, but Young is on pace for his best–and certainly most consistent–season on tour heading into Miami. The 51st-ranked American has won three matches at three of his last four events, with semifinal finishes in Memphis and Delray Beach to go along with a fourth-round showing in Indian Wells. Young has not lost in the opening round in any of five ATP tournaments in 2017.

Dustin Brown of Germany in action against Milos Raonic of Canada during their Men’s Singles first round match of the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 17 January 2017. EPA/JOE CASTRO

Up first for Young is a second career encounter with Brown, who lost their only previous showdown 7-6(2), 6-4 on the indoor hard courts of San Jose in 2011. Brown’s year got off to a decent enough start with four match victories in his first four tournaments, but a back injury that forced him to retire in the Montpellier semis halted his progress. The 78th-ranked German promptly suffered three consecutive straight-set defeats in opening rounds before advancing to last week’s Irving Challenger semifinals. Wins over Borna Coric and Tim Smyczek are encouraging, but Brown is now facing a more confident adversary in Young. Moreover, Young has taken down a handful of big-serving, relatively one-dimensional opponents this year in John Isner, Ivo Karlovic, and Reilly Opelka.

Pick: Young in 3

Martin Klizan vs. Benoit Paire

Klizan vs. Paire features two of the more colorful characters on tour and it will also pit one of the most ferocious backhands against one of the biggest forehands. The only previous meeting between these two mercurial players came five seasons ago on the hard courts of Winston-Salem, where Klizan prevailed 6-2, 7-6(4).

The 61st-ranked Slovak is coming off an incredibly bizarre 2016 season in which he won two 500-point titles but earned a mere four ATP-level match wins the entire rest of the year. For those counting, that means Klizan picked up more than 71 percent of his wins at just two events. So far this season he is a mediocre 6-8 on the main tour with quarterfinal performances in Sofia and Rotterdam. Paire has lost four matches in a row dating back to last month’s Montpellier semis and he took only five games off Taylor Fritz in Miami. The 39th-ranked Frenchman has won just nine games in his last two matches combined, although the other loss came at the hands of a scorching-hot Roger Federer in Dubai. A more in-form Klizan should be able to dictate play just enough to avoid Paire’s backhand and exploit the forehand side.

Pick: Klizan in 3