ATP Masters in Miami, 1st Round, Thursday, 24.03.2022
Big stars, strong US Americans and a bit of a show – that’s what fans expect from this year’s Miami Masters. Show? Of course, none other than Nick Kyrgios, who played a brilliant tournament in Indian Wells, is supposed to provide that.
In his first round in Miami, he will be up against a much stronger opponent – according to the world rankings – but when the Australian is in a good mood, that doesn’t bother him much.
In my Kyrgios Mannarino tip, I want to find out what makes him the bookies’ top favourite.
Anyone who even occasionally pays attention to the best of the tennis circuit will know: If Nick Kyrgios is in the right mood and is on a disciplined streak to boot, he can beat any opponent in the world.
A few days ago, the Australian once again knocked one out and rocked the tournament in Indian Wells. He beat the two Argentinians Federico Delbonis and Sebastian Baez outright, then cleared Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4.
After Jannik Sinner had to pull out due to injury, it came to the summit meeting with Rafael Nadal. For hours, the fans feverishly watched a 6-7, 7-5, 4-6 defeat that could not have been any tighter.
While he only allowed Nadal four chances to break, he actually won all his service games against Ruud. Once again, Kyrgios proved that he can beat anyone if he wants to.
After his early but equally close exit at the Australian Open against Medvedev, he had taken a long break, probably also celebrating his doubles title extensively. Now, after Indian Wells, he wants to do well in Miami.
When he plays here, which has been the case four times so far, he is usually convincing. Four times he was on the court, four times he reached at least the round of 16. Ranked sixth, ranked sixth, ranked fifth, ranked 13th – that’s how the opponents who have been too strong so far were ranked.
Actually, his French opponent is certainly not bad, but at the moment he seems to be miles away from his best form. At the Australian Open, he was still the scarecrow of the favourites, eliminating Hurkacz and Karatsev and only losing to Rafael Nadal.
The quarter-finals in Montpellier and Dallas were not bad, but the respective defeats were very clear. After these tournaments, there was a small slump.
You can certainly be eliminated in the first round against Taylor Fritz in Acapulco, but in two sets against Brandon Nakashima in Indian Wells? His match against Roberto Quiroz, the world number 381, which took place with the French national team, was also definitely improvable at 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.
The results of Nick Kyrgios make you sit up and take notice. Although both players have been on the tour for a long time, they will face each other directly for the first time on Thursday night.
My Kyrgios Mannarino Tip
It’s pretty easy to see that Nick Kyrgios is really in the mood to play tennis at the moment. If he takes his form from Indian Wells to Miami, things could go really far for him again.
Adrian Mannarino, on the other hand, is currently playing well below his potential. So I can’t imagine that he can really keep up with a Kyrgios in top form. Therefore my guess is:
Nick Kyrgios beats Adrian Mannarino straight up
