Miami Open 2022: Men’s Singles Draw Preview and Prediction

Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev

The 2022 Miami Open is all set to begin from March 23 and will feature 8 of the top 10 players in the world. Daniil Medvedev will lead the playing field as the top seed.

Tournament Details:

Tournament: Miami Open 2022
Date: March 23- April 3, 2022
Number of Entrants: 96 (Singles), 32 (Doubles)
Venue: Miami, Florida, USA
Surface: Hard Court
Prize Money: $8,584,055
Defending champion: Hubert Hurkacz

Top Seeds at the Miami Open 2022

Daniil Medvedev
Alexander Zverev
Stefanos Tsitsipas
Matteo Berrettini
Andrey Rublev
Casper Ruud
Felix Auger-Aliassime
Hubert Hurkacz

Top Half

First Quarter

US Open champion Daniil Medvedev will headline the top half of the draw. All 32 seeds, including Medvedev, have received a first-round bye. The Russian could face 3-time grand slam champion Andy Murray in a blockbuster second-round clash. For that, Murray will have to topple Federico Delbonis in the opening round. 27th seed Cristian Garin will face either Pedro Martinez or Jan-Lennard Struff in the second round. Medvedev and Garin are expected to meet in the third round.

15th seed Roberto Bautista Agut will take on either Kamil Majchrzak or Sebastian Baez in the second round and is drawn opposite Nikoloz Basilashvili. The Georgian would face either Jenson Broosby or Federico Coria in the second round. Basilasvili and Bautista Agut will lock horns in the third round with the winner facing Medvedev in the Round of 16.

FS Video

Defending champion Hubert Hurkacz will open against Laslo Djere or Arthur Rinderknech and could face 29th seed Aslan Karatsev in the third round. The Russian will face Aljaz Bedene or Ugo Humbert in the second round. Meanwhile, 12th seed Denis Shapovalov will start his campaign against either Lloyd Harris or Facundo Bagnis in the second round. Also, 24th seed Dan Evans will face a qualifier in the second round and will most likely face Shapovalov in the third round.

1st Quarterfinal Prediction: Daniil Medvedev vs Hubert Hurkacz

Second Quarter

Third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas will look to get back on winning terms in Miami after a slow start to the season. He will face either a qualifier or Daniel Altmaier in the second round and is drawn opposite Australian Alex de Minaur. The 25th seed will play either Jordan Thompson or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round. The second quarter of the draw is also the most tightly packed one.

In form Spaniard, Carlos Alcaraz will play either Martin Fucsovics or Marcos Giron in the second round. Marin Cilic will face the winner of the first-round clash between Lorenzo Musetti and Alexei Popyrin in the second round before locking horns with Alcaraz in the third round. Tsitsipas and Alcaraz could meet in the fourth round.

Canadian 7th seed Felix Auger Aliassime will most likely face Miomir Kecmanovic in the second round and is drawn opposite 32nd seed Albert Ramos Vinolas. The Spaniard will face either fellow Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or Sebastian Korda in the second round. Indian Wells Champion Taylor Fritz could meet Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round before potentially facing Karen Khachanov in the third round. The Russian will face either Tommy Paul or Benjamin Bonzi in the second round.

2nd Quarterfinal Prediction: Carlos Alcaraz vs Felix Auger-Aliassime

Third Quarter

4th seed Matteo Berrettini gets a relatively easy draw. He’ll face either Dusan Lajovic or Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the second round. American 28th seed Frances Tiafoe will open his Miami campaign against either Brandon Nakashima or Soonwoo Kwon and will then go on to face Berrettini in the third round. Big serving American Reilly Opelka will play Tallon Griekspoor or Francisco Cerundolo in the second round and could go on to face Gael Monfils in a thrilling third-round clash. But first, Monfils will have to get the better of a qualifier or Oscar Otte in the second round.

5th seed Andrey Rublev, who is in amazing form, has received a nightmare draw. Right away, he could face Australian showman Nick Kyrgios in the second round. For that, Kyrgios will first have to topple Adrian Mannarino in the first round. The winner between Kyrgios and Rublev will most likely face Fabio Fognini in the third round. On the other side, 17th seed Pablo Carreno Busta is drawn along with Jannik Sinner. Carreno Busta would face either Roberto Carballes Baena or David Goffin in the second round while Sinner will face the winner of the match between Maxime Cressy and Emil Ruusuvuori.

3rd Quarterfinal Prediction: Nick Kyrgios vs Matteo Berrettini

Fourth Quarter

The last quarter of the draw will be headlined by Alexander Zverev. The German gets a fairly easy draw and will most likely face Borna Coric in the second round. 26th seed Grigor Dimitrov will face either Mackenzie McDonald or Dominik Koepfer in the second round. Zverev and Dimitrov are expected to meet in the third round. 13th seed Diego Schwartzman is expected to face Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the second round and will most likely face 19th seed Lorenzo Sonego in the third round. The Italian will play against a qualifier of Chinese wildcard Juncheng Shang in the second round.

6th seed Casper Ruud will be up against either Benoit Paire or Henri Laaksonen in the second round. Alexander Bublik will most likely face John Millman in the second round and could go on to face Ruud in the third round. In form, Cameron Norrie will open his Miami campaign either against fellow Brit Jack Draper or Gilles Simon. He is drawn opposite John Isner who will face Hugo Gaston or Emilio Nava in the second round.

4th Quarterfinal Prediction: Alexander Zverev vs Cameron Norrie

Semifinals

Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz will meet in the first semifinal. Medvedev will be the obvious favorite given his superior ranking and big match temperament but Alcaraz too is in hot form and could beat anybody on the given day. Expect a thriller going down the distance.

In the second semifinal, Nick Kyrgios will be up against Alexander Zverev. When motivated, Kyrgios can easily be ranked amongst the best players in the world. As for Zverev, he will want to get back to winning ways once again this season and will fancy his chances against the Australian.

Miami Open 2022 Final: Daniil Medvedev vs Alexander Zverev

Final

The two highest-ranked players of the tournament, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev will contest the final. Both Medvedev and Zverev are amongst the best in the world and would definitely want to avenge their previous losses to each other. A thrilling match is on the cards with Medvedev winning the match and the title.

Champion: Daniil Medvedev

Also read: Miami Open 2022: Women’s Singles Draw Preview and Prediction

Tags: Miami Open 2022

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Lakshya Chopra

(2650 Articles Published)

Lakshya Chopra handles day-to-day operations at FirstSportz and is a seasoned writer who has covered various sports in the last few years. An engineer by profession, his passion for sports has driven him closer to the media industry. He has been working with FirstSportz for over four years. He initially led the tennis team for two years before switching to NFL. Having written over 2500 articles for the organization, he currently leads the Business Development and Growth team. From Rafael Nadal's prime to Novak Djokovic's rise to Patrick Mahomes' dominance- he has seen it all.