ATP Masters in Miami, 1st round, Thursday, 24.03.2022
Will the Miami Open 2022 have a German winner for the first time? It goes without saying that Alexander Zverev is at the top of the list of tournament favourites. But the other German representatives also want to sell themselves well.
Getting through the first round is also the goal of the world number 69. Although his opponent is ranked far behind him, the bookmakers see Germany as an outsider. Read in my Altmaier Wolf tip why I still bet on the Kempener!
How successful is the US Tour for Daniel Altmaier? The 23-year-old has shown what he is made of in the past few days in Phoenix. He has already climbed to 69th place in the world rankings, and in 2022 he is expected to go even higher.
Aleksandar Vukic, Emil Ruusuvuori, Radu Albot and Liam Broady all had no chance against an unbelievably strong Altmaier, and in the final against Denis Kudla everything initially went according to plan.
However, after winning the first set 6-2, the German ran out of steam, lost 2-6, 3-6 and missed the title by a hair’s breadth. Nevertheless, he can be proud of his strong tournament and would like to show exactly the same performance in Miami.
After his qualifying exit in 2021 due to injury, this is the first time he has been allowed to play in the main draw here anyway. He had already shown his potential at the Australian Open by sending Alexander Zverev into two tiebreaks.
The US American has only been playing at professional level since 2019, the same year he promptly won a qualifying match against Altmaier in two sets. In Miami, he first had to go through qualifying, as the world ranking position already gives it away.
Sam Querrey and Dmitri Popko both lost in two sets. Wolf and Altmaier almost met in Phoenix, as the 21-year-old also played an excellent tournament, which only ended in the semi-finals.
Max Purcell, Lorenzo Musetti and Fernando Verdasco, all cut their teeth without winning a set. Against Denis Kudla, Altmaier also suffered the same fate in three sets.
7-6, 4-6, 6-7, the defeat was very close. The German had also lost to Kudla in three sets, so are they to be regarded as equals? Wolf had already caused a stir in Indian Wells.
He lost to Roberto Bautista Agut, but a 3-6, 7-6, 6-7 against an absolute world class player was really no reason for sadness. The tournament in Abierto? Neither Kevin Anderson nor Lorenzo Sonego could beat this young American!
My Altmaier Betano Tip
According to my analysis, there is definitely some perplexity involved. J.J. Wolf is having an absolute run right now, convincing all over the place in the last few tournaments. Daniel Altmaier, however, is not doing any worse.
Who will be the happier winner in the end? The more profitable odds lead me to the decision to ultimately bet on the following tip:
Altmaier beats Wolf by a narrow margin!