Tennis Picks Miami 2013 (March 24th)

The start of the week at this tournament was a little bit of a mixed bag, but the last two days have seen the picks go 7-0 to put a positive spin on the event so far.

It has also been a pretty good week for the outright picks as Victoria Azarenka's withdrawal and Petra Kvitova's exit has strengthened the position of both Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova in the Women's draw.

Novak Djokovic, Tomas Berdych and Milos Raonic have all moved into the Third Round of the Men's draw so there are plenty to positives to take into the next seven days.


David Ferrer - 5.5 games v Fabio Fognini: This will be the third time these players are meeting this season and David Ferrer has won the last two matches fairly comfortably, which is not be expected with the way both of these players approach their games.

Fabio Fognini has the talent to make a lot of quality winners, but he is forced to work hard for every point he earns and that can be tough when it comes to the top ten players who don't offer up too many mistakes.

That may be the reason why Fognini will likely lose this match, although I have to be slightly concerned with the fact that Ferrer hasn't played a Singles match for almost two weeks now after a Second Round exit in Indian Wells.

However, I think Ferrer will likely be a little too consistent for Fognini and could record a 6-3, 6-3 win here.


Jurgen Melzer - 2.5 games v Tobias Kamke: I have backed Jurgen Melzer twice this week and I see no reason to avoid him here in what looks another winnable match and a chance for the Austrian to extend his personal win streak to 8 matches.

Melzer has played some pretty solid tennis so far this week and I feel he could catch Tobias Kamke off the back of a big win over Juan Martin Del Potro. That was a really surprising win for Kamke, especially considering he was beaten comfortably by Victor Troicki and Frank Dancevic over the last couple of weeks and there is a definite feeling that this could be a case of after the Lord Mayor's show for him.

I like the way Melzer has been playing so far in Miami and he does seem to have the confidence to beat Kamke, a player that has plenty of shots in his arsenal, but also is very inconsistent. It is possible that three sets will be needed, but I do like Melzer to cover and move into the Fourth Round.


MY PICKS: David Ferrer - 5.5 Games @ 2.00 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Jurgen Melzer - 2.5 Games @ 1.95 Pinnacle (2 Units)

Weekly Update: 10-5, + 9.66 Units (30 Units Staked, + 32.20% Yield)