ATP Masters in Miami, 2nd round, Saturday, 25/03/2023
A top star in need? Casper Ruud must still be struggling with the turn of the year, because since 2023 is on the calendars, hardly anything is going right for him. The Miami Masters should finally break the knot.
On Saturday night, he enters the tournament and is served an opponent who can be quite unpleasant. Although the Norwegian is clearly in the lead at Bet3000, I now reveal in my Ruud Ivashka tip why I believe the underdog can win the set!
He is the fourth best player in the world, also seeded fourth in Miami. No question, in theory Casper Ruud is one of the co-favourites. But the 24-year-old has had nothing whatsoever to do with the awarding of titles this year.
At the Australian Open, he already failed in the 2nd round against Jenson Brooksby, a defeat from which he has obviously not yet really recovered. Ruud travelled to Acapulco, but the Mexican soil was not to bring him any luck.
He managed to beat Guido Andreaozzi with a lot of effort, but against Taro Daniel it was the end of the line. Things were not to get much better for Ruud when he entered Indian Wells with high hopes.
Cristian Garin, actually out of form for many, many months, was indeed out of his league. Ruud lost outright, a 4-6, 6-7 was disappointing all the way.
No matter how you look at it, he just can’t find his game this year. Will he be in a better mood in Miami, because he actually has good memories with this Masters?
Last year he stormed through to the final here, eliminating Alexander Zverev, among others. Only Carlos Alcaraz was a little too strong in the final, when Ruud went down 5-7, 4-6
This is now the first time ever that Ruud has faced Ilya Ivashka. Our bettors show that they are backing a Norwegian success, as the odds come in at an average of 1.35 to 3.00.
Ilya Ivashka, the world number 80, is of course far behind Ruud in the rankings. However, there are some facts that show that one should not underestimate the Belarusian in any case.
In Miami, unfortunately for Germany, he got off to a flying start, sweeping Daniel Altmaier out of the arena with a 6-2, 6-1 win. 90% of the points won on the first serve, not a single break chance surrendered – what a show of power.
Ivashka had already attracted attention in Indian Wells, albeit only briefly, when he took a set against Daniil Medvedev in the 3rd round. Including the Australian Open, his year actually began with five defeats in a row.
In Indian Wells, Ivashka achieved his first success in 2023, which makes the clear success against Altmaier even more impressive. The 29-year-old knows, however, that he has never made it past the 2nd round in Miami.
In 2019 as well as in 2021, it was the end of the line after the second appearance, although I should note here: Two years ago, it was really incredibly close in the unlucky 7-6, 4-6, 4-6 against Denis Shapovalov.
My Ruud Ivashka Tip
Admittedly, on paper Casper Ruud should actually win easily against Ilya Ivashka. But only according to the ranking it will definitely not work on Saturday, because the Norwegian is completely out of shape.
Even we were puzzled about where the crisis came from. Ivashka started badly in 2023, but is now slowly catching himself. Since he beat Daniel Altmaier in record time, I trust him in Round 2 as well and say:
Ivashka takes a set against Ruud!
