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The men's singles second round will begin on Friday at the 2024 Miami Open.
Former top-10 player Kei Nishikori's return from an injury layoff ended with a 6-3, 6-4 defeat to Sebastian Ofner. Diego Schwartzman's woes continued as he slumped to yet another first-round exit, this time at the hands of Roman Safiullin.
Felix Auger-Aliassime made a winning start to his campaign here with a straight-sets win over Adam Walton. Roberto Bautista Agut also scored a much-needed win, with Dan Evans, Gael Monfils, and Fabian Marozsan also joining him in the winner's circle.
With the first round done and dusted, the tour's big guns will now take to the court for the second round. Here are the predictions for some of the matches scheduled for Day 4 of the 2024 Miami Open:
#1 - Casper Ruud vs Luca Van Assche
Ruud has been in great form this season and has amassed a 16-4 record so far. He reached a couple of finals last month but lost to Jordan Thompson and Alex de Minaur at the Los Cabos Open and the Mexican Open respectively.
Ruud then made it to the quarterfinals of the Indian Wells Masters, where he put up a fight against Tommy Paul but went down to him in three sets. He's a former runner-up at the Miami Open as he came up short against Carlos Alcaraz in the final two years ago.
Van Assche is one of the many young players on the rise at the moment. He moved past Pavel Kotov in the first round here with a 6-3, 7-5 victory. The young Frenchman has notched up back-to-back victories just once this season and hasn't beaten a top 10 player yet. This makes Ruud the heavy favorite to make it to the next round.
Predicted winner: Casper Ruud
#2 - Tommy Paul vs Martin Damm Jr.
Paul is fresh off of a semifinal finish at the Indian Wells Masters. He led Daniil Medvedev by a set but eventually lost the match in three sets. Damm registered his maiden win on the ATP Tour as he defeated top 50 player Zhang Zhizhen 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3) in the first round of the Miami Open.
Given the wide gulf in experience between these two, Paul will be expected to get the better of his younger compatriot. Damm displayed plenty of promise with his game in the last round with his win over Zhang but there's still room for improvement.
Trying to one-up a player of Paul's caliber could prove to be an uphill battle for Damm at this point. Should the older American lose this bout, it would be quite the upset.
Predicted winner: Tommy Paul
#3 - Cameron Norrie vs Flavio Cobolli
It has been an up-and-down season for Norrie thus far. His best results have been a semifinal showing at the Rio Open and a fourth-round appearance at the Australian Open. He recently lost to Monfils in the third round of the Indian Wells Masters despite leading by a set.
Cobolli fought back from a set down to defeat lucky loser Yoshihito Nishioka 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the Miami Open. The 21-year-old is in the midst of a breakout season. He has already won more matches on the ATP Tour this year than he had in his career prior to this year.
Cobolli has also defeated players like Nicolas Jarry and Auger-Aliassime this year, who were ranked in the top 20 and 30 when he faced them. Norrie will need to be at his best or else the young Italian could have another big scalp to his name.
Predicted winner: Cameron Norrie
#4 - Jack Draper vs Nicolas Jarry
Draper made light work of Taro Daniel in the first round of the Miami Open with a 6-3, 6-2 win. He didn't face a single break point and won a massive 97% of his first serve points.
Jarry has an 8-7 record this year, with four of those wins coming on hardcourts. Of those four victories, two were against players ranked outside the top 300. While he's currently ranked in the top 20, he hasn't competed like a top-ranked player that often this year.
Draper is one of the tougher opponents that Jarry could've faced this early in Miami. Considering the young Brit's impressive showing in the first round, he'll be favored to take out another big name this year.
Predicted winner: Jack Draper
