TennisSection previews the 2022 Miami Open as Grigor Dimitrov takes on Mackenzie McDonald in the second round on Friday, March 25th, 2022.
Grigor Dimitrov will certainly look to do better than his last appearance at the Miami Open which resulted in a second-round defeat. A meeting against USA’s Mackenzie McDonald is not a daunting challenge, but the World No. 54 is a player with a knack of upsetting the top players in the early stages of tournaments. Can McDonald fashion another upset on Friday under the lights?
Grigor Dimitrov made the quarterfinals of Indian Wells last week, digging out a gutsy wins over the likes of Alexander Bublik and John Isner. But he could not repel the sheer power of Andrey Rublev in their last eight meeting. Now his attention turns to Miami as he looks to improve on his 7-5 win-loss record for the year. Dimtrov has had a underwhelming return of results at the Miami Open since he made his debut back in 2011. Aside from two fourth-round finishes, there have been a string of early exits including last edition in 2021, where he lost in the second round to Cameron Norrie. He gets another bye this year and will face a pesky customer in Mackenzie McDonald in the second round.
Mackenzie McDonald, for his part, rallied from a set down to defeat German lefty Dominik Koepfer 6-7 6-4 6-4 in nearly three hours. The American had saved multiple set points in the first set, but could not prevent Koepfer from shutting the gates in the tiebreak. However, he responded in the second and third sets, landing more first serves and putting pressure on Koepfer in return games. McDonald broke his opponent seven times in the next two sets to grind out a marathon win and a place in the second round of the Miami Open.
Grigor Dimitrov owns a 1-0 head-to-head record over Mackenzie McDonald. He defeated the American in a topsy-turvy five-setter at the Australian Open in the second round in 2018. The Bulgarian has worked his socks off to get his ranking moving in the right direction. He is a crowd favorite and his game will never lack of panache. McDonald, meanwhile, will be looking to throw a spanner in the works here. But it is hard to bet against Dimitrov in this one especially after McDonald’s grueling three-set win in the first round.
Free Tennis Pick and Prediction: Grigor Dimitrov to win in 3 sets.
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