Early-Round Matches to Watch at the Sony Open

March is a fantastic time to be a tennis fan in this country.

First off, it's nice that the weather is again consistently nice enough that outdoor tournaments can be played. The events at Indian Wells and Miami, pardon me, the Sony Open, really are a sign that Spring is upon us.

Beyond that, Indian Wells and Miami are fantastic events.

This year is certainly no exception. Indian Wells was a star-studded event that may end up being looked back upon as the event where Rafael Nadal announced that he was completely "back."

Miami, with the notable exceptions of Roger Federer and Nadal, who is still playing it safe with his knee, looks to have almost as strong a field.

To get you ready for all of the action from Miami over the next week and a half, let's look at some of the early-round matches you should be looking out for.

Lleyton Hewitt vs. Gilles Simon - second round

This match would happen if Hewitt handles his business in the first round against Joao Sousa of Portugal. I'm pretty confident he'll get that done.

There's very little to not like about Hewitt's game. He grinds, he fights, he plays out every single point and every so often in a match, he'll give you a glimpse of what made him the top-ranked player in the world about a decade ago.

You can't even really get upset about his demeanor anymore. When he was first bursting onto the scene, tennis lifers bristled at his on-court snarl and the way he yelled "Come on!" after big points. Now, those two traits make him just one of literally hundreds of players on tour that snarl and yell on the court.

Simon is the type of player that frustrates you to no end if you are a fan of his. Often times, he seems content to just push the ball around the court and extend points until one player or the other can make a circus shot.

But up against a grinder like Hewitt, that style can make for a fun match.

I like Hewitt if this match comes to fruition. The Aussie is going to struggle from here on out in his career against the biggest hitters on tour, but against a guy like Simon that is going to let him hang around, he can get the job done.

Ryan Harrison vs. James Blake - first round

Here we have a match between two American players whose careers are passing like ships in the night.

James Blake has spent the last few years battling injuries and inconsistency. As much as I would like to see it, it's getting really tough to imagine a scenario where Blake battles his way back into the top-50 or so.

Every so often, though, he is able to put it all together and give us an inspired performance.

Harrison is undoubtedly on the upswing of his career, but some are beginning to get impatient with his development. He clearly has the game, but sometimes he struggles with the mental side of the sport. There are no questions about his hunger, though, and I think that will ultimately serve him well.

In this one, I expect to see some of the best of both players. Blake will be looking to show the younger generation of players that the old guard is still a factor and Harrison will be looking to show that he is both the future and present of American tennis.

In a related note, Harrison finally has a manageable draw. He has had such bad luck with draws at big events. He often finds himself up against one of the giants of the game in the first or second round. In Miami, if the draw holds, he will have winnable matches against Julien Benneteau and Juan Monaco before having to face Juan Martin del Potro.

Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. David Goffin - second round

For this to happen, Goffin would have to beat Robin Haase in the first round. That's a solid opponent, but I'm confident in Goffin.

Kohlschreiber has a way of sneaking up in events like this. The German has a good game for these hard courts and he's due for one of those deep runs that few see coming.

After bursting onto the scene last year, Goffin has yet to take the next step in his development and force his way into a seed in events like this.

If Goffin is going to make a move like that, Kohlschreiber is an opponent he can get that run started against. On the other hand, Kohlschreiber is the type of guy that can give a young player lots of trouble. He isn't going to beat himself and he is going to force his opponent to play a sound match.

Either player would be disappointed with a loss in this round and both would have to chalk this up as a good win. 

Andy Murray vs. Bernard Tomic - second round

We would get this match if Tomic wins his first round match against Marc Gicquel. The fact that that's not a given illustrates exactly why this match would be exciting.

No outcome for Bernard Tomic would be a surprise. Just as he could drop his first round match to Gicquel, he could come out on fire and beat Andy Murray.

It's also just about time that we see a move from Tomic. So far in his career, he's the type of player that crumbles under pressure and thrives when no one is expecting anything from him.

It will also be interesting to see what kind of form Murray is in. He has, by design, played few events since the Australian Open. Then, at Indian Wells, he was upset in the quarters against del Potro and wasn't even all that competitive in the last two sets.

Robby Ginepri vs. Yen-Hsun Lu - first round

Okay, so I picked this match pretty much solely because I'm a sucker for nostalgia. It's easy to forget that Ginepri once made the semifinals of the US Open and was considered one of the real up and comers in American tennis.

He never again reached that pinnacle and he quickly fell behind others in the pecking order of American players, but it speaks well of him that he's still plugging away at it as hard as ever.

For that, he has my support and my attention when he takes the court.

 

BNP Paribas Open: Early Round Matches to Watch

After a month of few meaningful matches, with the notable exception of Rafael Nadal's matches on his comeback trail, we finally get into the swing of the Spring season with the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.

As usual, most of the big names are here, including Rafael Nadal in his first tournament of the season off of clay.

With this being the case, we are often treated to some Grand Slam-level matches at this event. Before we even get that deep into the tournament, though, there are some early-round matches that are worth your time.

The ones that I'm looking forward to are as follows:

Mardy Fish vs. Whoever he ends up playing first

Because Mardy still has enough points left over from when he was playing, he was able to be seeded 32nd in this draw. That puts him through to the second round automatically where he will play the winner of a first-round match between Benjamin Becker and a qualifier.


Honestly, the player that ends up facing off against Mardy isn't all that important. If Mardy is anywhere close to the player he was before his long hiatus, he will win the match. But if he is the same player we saw just before he decided to shut it down last season, he's going to get beat.

I'm really rooting for Mardy. His comeback story of a couple of years ago was fantastic and I've always loved his game. But I fear that if he suffers another setback, he might end up face to face with the prospect of hanging it up for good. That's how serious his health concerns are.

James Blake vs. Robin Haase

James Blake is another American that has had his career threatened by injuries. You are left wondering what his peak would have been had he not missed significant time with various ailments. And now that he is relatively healthy, he doesn't have game like he used to.


That's not to say that he can't still have a successful last ride through the ATP Tour. He still plays well in spurts and he loves hard courts in his home country. Keeping that in mind, I wouldn't be shocked if he puts together some good tennis over these next couple of weeks.

Haase is the type of player that Blake is going to have to be able to beat if he is going to find his way back into the top 100 and into the main draw of majors. Haase is a solid top-50 or 75 player that is consistently having the type of seasons that you would hope for Blake to be able to have in these last years of his career.

Sam Querrey vs. Jack Sock

In order for this match to take place, Sock would have to win his first round match against a qualifier, but I think he will manage to do that.


Sam needs a good week and I think he can accomplish that if he avoids the early-round loss that can sometimes plague him. If the draw holds, he would end up facing Juan Monaco in the third round. Monaco doesn't play all that well on hard courts and he has been terrible so far this season. From there, he would likely face Novak Djokovic, but getting that far and fighting hard against Djokovic should be taken as a positive result.

It's getting past Sock that might be the problem. Sock has the game to win just about any match he is in and, similar to a young Andy Roddick, he has the belief that he's among the best in the game, even though he's not there yet.

This match also represents a big opportunity for Sock. It is assumed that Ryan Harrison leads the pack when it comes to young American players, but his development is taking a bit longer than some would have hoped. With a big win over arguably the top American on tour right now, there might start to be some rumblings that Sock is the young American to watch.

Lleyton Hewitt vs. Lukas Rosol

In tennis, few things are more fun than a classic contrast of styles and that's what we have here in this first round match.

There are no secrets about what Hewitt is going to bring to the table. He is going to fight and scrap for every point. If Rosol isn't on his game, Hewitt is going to make him miserable.

The downside of that style is that Hewitt doesn't have the firepower to really dominate a match. Even if his opponent is not at the top of his game, Hewitt's style will allow the player to hang around a little bit.

When it's all said and done, it's hard to bet against a battler like Hewitt, though.

Kevin Anderson vs. Victor Hanescu

I have long been bullish on the potential of the big South African Kevin Anderson and after a breakthrough performance at the Australian Open, it looks like I'm finally being rewarded for that faith.

To really take the next step in his development, though, he will have to put away opponents like Hanescu routinely. Hanescu is a solid but unspectacular player that guys the caliber of Anderson should be beating with regularity.

In the past, Anderson has been up and down against these types of players in early-round matches and that has to stop if he is going to consistently keep his ranking around the top 30.