RICKY’S PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR THE MIAMI OPEN QUARTERFINALS: FEDERER VS. BERDYCH AND KYRGIOS VS. ZVEREV

Written by: Staff on 30th March 2017

RICKY'S PREVIEW AND PICKS FOR THE MIAMI OPEN QUARTERFINALS: FEDERER VS. BERDYCH AND KYRGIOS VS. ZVEREV

epa05878084 Tennis fans gather at dusk to watch the night session matches on the stadium court at the Miami Open tennis tournament on Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA, 29 March 2017. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER |

By Ricky Dimon

The last two semifinal spots at the Miami Open will be up for grabs on Thursday. Of course, “up for grabs” may not be the correct term since a red-hot Roger Federer is one of the players taking the court and is an overwhelming favorite against Tomas Berdych. The other quarterfinal pits Nick Kyrgios against Alexander Zverev.

Ricky previews the action and makes his predictions.

(4) Roger Federer vs. (10) Tomas Berdych

Roger Federer of Switzerland in action against Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina during their third round match of the Miami Open tennis tournament on Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA, 27 March 2017. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER

Federer and Berdych will be facing each other for the 24th time in their careers. The head-to-head series stands at 17-6 in favor of Federer, who has won six straight against Berdych since losing two in a row against the Czech in 2012 (U.S. Open) and 2013 (Dubai). The 18-time Grand Slam champion has also taken 14 sets in succession against Berdych while requiring a tiebreaker in only one of those 14. They most recently met at this season’s Australian Open, where Federer coasted through a third-round contest 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.

Based on how well Federer is playing at the moment, there is no reason to think the tide will suddenly turn. The 35-year-old Swiss triumphed in Melbourne and also captured the Indian Wells title. He is an incredible 16-1 for the 2017 campaign following straight-set Miami wins at the expense of Frances Tiafoe, Juan Martin Del Potro, and Roberto Bautista Agut.

Berdych, on the other hand, needed an impressive result this fortnight in the worst way. The 31-year-old had been a pedestrian 10-5 this year with no final appearances and he has plunged to No. 14 in the rankings. He arguably hit a low point in the California desert, where he blew a 6-1, 6-2 lead over Yoshihito Nishioka in the third round and lost in three sets. So far in Miami, though, Berdych has advanced with straight-set victories over Andrey Rublev, Gilles Muller, and Adrian Mannarino. A steep step up in competition should prove to result in the end of Berdych’s run.

Pick: Federer in 2

(16) Alexander Zverev vs. (12) Nick Kyrgios

Nick Kyrgios of Australia in action against Ivo Karlovic of Croatia during their third round match of the Miami Open tennis tournament on Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA, 27 March 2017. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER

Kyrgios and Zverev will be squaring off for the second time in their careers and for the second time in as many tournaments. They just collided for the first time in Indian Wells, where Kyrgios rolled 6-3, 6-4 during third-round action.

The 21-year-old Australian still has not lost since then, as his exit in the desert came via a quarterfinal walkover that he gave Federer because of illness. Kyrgios is 13-3 in 2017 and 6-0 in his last six matches following Miami defeats of Damir Dzumhur (6-4, 6-3), Ivo Karlovic (in a third-set tiebreaker), and David Goffin (7-6(5), 6-3).

Two years Kyrgios’ junior at 19, Zverev is not far behind at No. 20 in the rankings to Kyrgios’ No. 16 mark. The German has already secured one title in 2017 indoors in Montpellier and following a relative three-tournament skid he is back on track this fortnight with wins over Yen-Hsun Lu, John Isner, and top-seeded Stan Wawrinka. Zverev fought off three match points to beat Isner 6-7(5), 7-6(7), 7-6(5) and returned to the court one day later for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 upset of Wawrinka. This will undoubtedly be more competitive than what transpired at the Indian Wells Masters, but Kyrgios’ serve and baseline ball-striking right now are such that it is almost impossible to bet against him with anyone other than Federer on the other side of the net.

Pick: Kyrgios in 3