ATP Masters in Miami, 1st round, Wednesday, 23.03.2022
Miami dreams of an American winner at the world-famous Masters – a realistic wish? After Taylor Fritz snatched the Indian Wells title, spectators’ expectations are high.
Mackenzie McDonald is undoubtedly not one of the players expected at the top, but the local hero still wants to surprise. From a German point of view, however, that would not exactly be desirable. Read my McDonald Koepfer tip to find out who will be able to cheer in the end
A year ago, tennis fans waited in vain for the biggest names to play their way into the final in Miami. With Hubert Hurkacz and Jannik Sinner, two big sensations made it in the end.
Who will be at the top in 2022? Mckanzie McDonald may only be one of the outsiders, but in recent weeks he has shown why his current 54th place in the world rankings should not be the end of the road.
In Indian Wells he beat Marton Fucsovics, later lost to prodigy Carlos Alcaraz. Earlier in Dubai, he had won in two sets against Aslan Karatsev and Filip Krajinovic. He took a set from Andrey Rublev, but was still eliminated in the quarter-finals.
Just 1.78m tall, McDonald is making his third appearance in the main draw of the Miami Masters, making it past the 1st round twice. In 2019, he was defeated by Stefanos Tsitsipas, then a year ago by John Isner.
In other words, against players who are clearly above the class of Dominik Koepfer. McDonald and Koepfer have not yet met in a main draw match, so we will experience a real premiere on Wednesday
Dominik Koepfer went home without a win a year ago when he lost to Frenchman Hugo Gaston in two sets. And that despite the fact that he was not even in the top 150 at the time.
For the 27-year-old, the Miami Open will be only his fourth tournament in 2022. At the Australian Open, he showed appealing performances when he lost 4-6, 3-6, 5-7 to Reilly Opelka in the 2nd round.
A few weeks ago in Indian Wells, he might have progressed a round or two with slightly easier opponents. Benoit Paire was defeated 2-6, 7-5, 6-4, against Andrey Rublev the German lost the tough fight 5-7, 4-6.
If he can repeat this performance against Mackenzie McDonald, something is possible. Perhaps it will help the world number 64 that this time he does not have to compensate for the often existing size disadvantage, as he himself is also one of the smaller players at 1.80m.
My McDonald Koepfer Tip
Though Dominik Koepfer has shown quite positive performances this year, he could not win enough of the close matches in the end. In Miami, he now has to deal directly with a strong opponent.
I can therefore imagine that both of them will have a close, prolonged exchange of blows and I am therefore betting:
We see more than 22,5 games!
