John Isner v Juan Carlos Ferrero
Tennis: ATP Masters Miami 3rd round
Sunday, 28th March 2010 - Start 10pm GMT

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Preview

John Isner fought through a tough 3 set match against his fellow American Michael Russell in the last round but he may consider himself fortunate after winning 2 tie breaks to do so. Isner is famed for his serve as he stands at 6 feet 9 inches, but he allowed Russell to have 7 break point opportunities and did lose serve 2 times. He did not serve as well as he can and Russell had many chances once he got involved in a rally.

Isner has moved up to World Number 21 in recent weeks as he continues his tennis education. He can almost be considered a version 2 of Ivo Karlovic, seemingly more effective off the ground than the big Croatian ever was and that makes Isner that much more dangerous. His game enables him to challenge any of the top players and his biggest win came on the hard courts when he knocked out Andy Roddick in the US Open last season.

The American has an 11-2 record on the hard courts this season, including a win in Auckland in the first week of the season. He has also impressed in Indian Wells and at the Australian Open. Isner will feel confident that he can improve on the 20-12 mark he ended with last season on this surface and I think we can expect to see him in the top 20 by the end of the year.

Juan Carlos Ferrero is the former World Number 1 who looked to be heading down the rankings at a speed of knots and retirement looked to be certainly on the cards. However, he is now enjoying an Indian Summer that has seen his ranking rise back to World Number 14 and is once again a genuine threat in tournaments.

He came through the last round after his opponent, Daniel Koellerer retired after only 4 games. We may not quite know how Ferrero is performing at the moment, although he has struggled on hard courts over the last 2 seasons. He has a 2-3 mark this year so far.

The Spaniard enjoyed a successful spell in the South American clay court swing, winning 2 of those tournaments and reaching the Final of another. This should give him confidence in knowing he can compete again with the top players as he looks to make a run here in Miami.

Prediction

This is a tough match to predict but I think there is a spot of value in picking Juan Carlos Ferrero to go through. The courts here seem to be playing against the big servers like Karlovic and Isner, and Ferrero is an opponent who can take advantage of this.

Isner also struggled with the heat when playing against Rafael Nadal in Indian Wells and that is something that might go against him here. Ferrero is likely to engage Isner in long rallies where he can and his consistency could wear down the big man.

I'll take Ferrero to go through at odds against.

The Pick :

Juan Carlos Ferrero in 3 sets

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Juan Carlos Ferrero WIN @ 2.3