World No. 1 Novak Djokovic will be soaking in the sun down in Florida along with the other top men’s tennis players as he defends his Miami Open title starting this weekend. The Djoker has started the year on fire and will be playing on a court that has been good to him in the past. But with fiery Spaniard Rafael Nadal leading the field of challengers gunning for the crown, the champ will definitely have his work cut out for him.
Read on below as we preview all the red-hot tennis action from this tournament in South Beach. And for some big time golf, check out our preview of the Valero Texas Open.
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2015 Miami Open Men’s Singles Preview and Prediction\
[sc:Other240banner ]Novak Djokovic definitely has a lot of fun in the sun. The World No. 1 has won the Miami Open four times (second only to Andre Agassi’s six), including three of the last four years. Djokovic has also started the 2015 season very well. He’s reached the final in three of the four tournaments he’s entered, and won the Australian Open as well as the recently concluded BNP Paribas Open. Djokovic is the heavy favorite in Miami at -125.
Djokovic will be closely contested by World No. 2 Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard (+550) has agonizingly finished second-best in all four of his trips to the Miami Open final. He fell to Djokovic in his last two trips, in 2011 and last year. Nadal has had a rough go of it in the hardcourt this year, though. He crashed out of the Round of 32 as a defending champion in Doha earlier this year, and failed to make it past the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the BNP Paribas Open.
Roger Federer has indicated he will miss this tournament after going deep at Indian Wells last weekend, but there is still plenty of talent in this tournament…
Sleepers – Stanislas Wawrinka, Tomas Berdych
Don’t sleep on Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka. The World No. 7, who is +1,200 in Miami, was shocked in the Round of 64 at Indian Wells, but besides that, he’s been excellent in 2015. He’s already scored two tournament victories on hardcourt (Chennai and Rotterdam), and also reached the semifinals of the Australian Open, going down to eventual champion Djokovic.
Wawrinka will have to get past World No. 4 Andy Murray (+450) to make it further than the quarterfinals in Miami, but the Swiss has been quite competitive against the Brit. Wawrinka has won six of their 14 career matchups, including the last two in a row.
World No. 9 Tomas Berdych has also been very impressive on the hardcourt. Berdych came up short in the five tournaments he’s entered this year, but he did reach two finals and two semifinals. If any of the big guns fall off unexpectedly, the very consistent Czech could be the one to capitalize, and offers nice value at +2,200.
Long Shot – Juan Martin del Potro
The recurrence of a persistent wrist injury limited former World No. 4 Juan Martin del Potro to just 10 total matches last year. The Argentine is now way down in No. 616 in the world, but that might be all the better for him to sneak up on unsuspecting higher seeds.
del Potro will have to navigate past the likes of Grigor Dimitrov, John Isner and Milos Raonic to reach the quarterfinals, but a fully healthy del Potro – the 2009 US Open champion – is arguably the better player than any of the three. Whether del Potro is indeed back to full health is another matter entirely, but his talent is such that he would be a worthwhile bet as a very long shot. del Potro comes in at +1,200, as part of a bet on the Field (Any Other Player).
Writer’s Prediction
Djokovic dominates the field as he scores his fifth title in Miami. Create a betting account now for more sizzling hot tennis tournaments.
