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The top players on the men's side are in poor form heading into the 2022 Miami Open.
Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Matteo Berrettini and Felix Auger-Alisassime, who have performed well this year, lost early at the Indian Wells Masters. They'll be looking to get back to their best in Miami.
Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer are all skipping the tournament for various reasons.
Hubert Hurkacz has had a decent season so far but he will face an uphill battle in trying to defend his Miami crown. Carlos Alcaraz reached his first Masters 1000 semifinal in the California desert last week and will aim to continue his good run of form in the second leg of the Sunshine Double.
Taylor Fritz, who defeated Nadal in the Indian Wells Masters final, will look to win consecutive titles. Meanwhile, Andrey Rublev's 13-match winning streak came to an end in the semifinals at Indian Wells and the Russian will be keen to get back to winning ways.
Here are the five players who are expected to contend for the Miami Open title:
#5 Daniil Medvedev
Daniil Medvedev's year had been going rather well prior to his early loss at the Indian Wells Masters. He led Russia to the semifinals of the ATP Cup and then reached the final of the Australian Open for the second straight year. However, he lost to Rafael Nadal after blowing a two-set lead.
Medvedev then competed at the Mexican Open, where he lost to Nadal once again. However, his semifinal appearance was enough for him to claim the World No. 1 ranking after Novak Djokovic lost early in Dubai.
Competing in his first tournament as the top-ranked player, Medvedev lost to Gael Monfils in the third round of the Indian Wells Masters. He also relinquished the World No. 1 ranking to Djokovic. If he wants to get back on top, he'll need to reach at least the semifinals of the Miami Open.
Medvedev reached the quarterfinals of the Miami Open last year and could go further this time, provided he's back to his best.
#4 Cameron Norrie
Cameron Norrie's start to the year was disastrous as he lost all three of his ATP Cup group ties and exited the Australian Open in the first round. The Brit won his first match of the year at the Rotterdam Open and made it to the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Norrie then won his third career title at the Delray Beach Open, followed by a runner-up finish at the Mexican Open. As the defending champion at Indian Wells, he made it to the quarterfinals, where he lost to Carlos Alcaraz.
Norrie has been playing quite well over the last few weeks and if things fall into place for him at the Miami Open, he could win his second Masters 1000 title.
#3 Andrey Rublev
Andrey Rublev has enjoyed tremendous success in 2022. A third-round exit from the Australian Open has been the only time he has lost early in a tournament.
At the Rotterdam Open, his title defense ended in the semifinals against Felix Auger-Aliassime. Rublev then won consecutive titles at the Open 13 Provence and the Dubai Tennis Championships.
He arrived at the Indian Wells Masters as one of the favorites to win the title. The Russian lost to Taylor Fritz in the semifinals, ending his 13-match winning streak.
Rublev has been one of the most consistent performers over the last few weeks. He reached the semifinals of the Miami Open last year and could very well go all the way this time.
#2 Taylor Fritz
Taylor Fritz started off the year on a strong note, winning two of his three ATP Cup matches. At the Australian Open, he reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time before losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas in a closely contested five-set battle.
Fritz failed to win consecutive matches in his next two tournaments and wasn't in the best form heading into the Indian Wells Masters. After an easy win over Kamil Majchrzak, he needed three sets to get past each of Jaume Munar, Alex de Minaur and Miomir Kecmanovic in the next three rounds.
Fritz then defeated Andrey Rublev in straight sets to end the Russian's 13-match winning streak. He was the underdog against Rafael Nadal in the final, but upset the Spaniard to win the biggest title of his career.
Fritz also became the first player to defeat Nadal this year and will be brimming with confidence ahead of the Miami Open.
However, only a handful of players have managed to win the Indian Wells Open and the Miami Open back-to-back. If Fritz demonstrates the same level of play from last week, he could join the elite group of players to have completed the "Sunshine Double."
#1 Carlos Alcaraz
Teenage sensation Carlos Alcaraz has continued his rapid rise to the top of the men's game this year.
He began the year with a hard-fought loss against Matteo Berrettini in five sets in the third round of the Australian Open. Alcaraz then won the biggest title of his career at the ATP 500 in Rio. En route to the title, he defeated Berrettini and former top-10 players Diego Schwartzman and Fabio Fognini.
At the Indian Wells Open, he reached the semifinals of a Masters 1000 event for the first time in his fledgling career. He knocked out defending champion Cameron Norrie in the quarterfinals, but lost to Rafael Nadal in three sets in the last four.
With a 12-2 record for the year, Alcaraz has done phenomenally well. He has also made his debut in the top 20.
It's only a matter of time before Alcaraz bags a big title and there's a good chance it could happen at the Miami Open.
