Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA – Photo by Icon Sport

Marcos Giron vs Dominik Koepfer: ATP Miami Masters – First round

In the opening round of ATP Miami Masters, Marcos Giron will take on Dominik Koepfer.

Marcos Giron Profile

Marcos Giron is 51st in the ATP rankings, which is seven spots lower than his career high. The American is 8–6 for the season and 4-5 on hard surfaces.

Last week in Indian Wells, he lost 6-3, 7-5 to Thanasi Kokkinakis in the opening round. Previously in Los Cabos, he lost in the second round, winning only one game against Casper Ruud after going past Taro Daniel in the opener.

Earlier in the season, Giron had much more success. He reached the final in Dallas, losing to Tommy Paul in three sets, and the following week he made it to the semis in Delray Beach, this time losing to Taylor Fritz.

This will be Giron’s fourth appearance in Miami, and he has made it past the opening round only in 2021.

Dominik Koepfer Profile

Dominik Koepfer is ranked 50th in the world, only one spot lower than his career high. The German is 10-5 for the season and 7-4 on hard surfaces.

He is coming off a tough 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 first round loss to Alexander Shevchenko in Indian Wells. Koepfer played much better in Acapulco, reaching the quarterfinal, where he lost to Holger Rune.

Koepfer had a strong start to the season, winning the Challenger in Canberra in the opening week. He also made it to the quarterfinals in Dallas.

This will be his third appearance in Miami, and he has never won a match there.

Head-to-Head Tied 2-2

• Giron vs Koepfer 7-6, 6-3 (2023 Paris Masters, qualifiers)
• Giron vs Koepfer 7-6, 6-4 (2021 Cincinnati, qualifiers)
• Koepfer vs Giron 6-1, 6-4 (2019 Aptos Challenger, quarterfinal)
• Koepfer vs Giron 7-6, 6-4 (2016 Columbus Challenger, first round)

Prediction and Conclusion

Both players are in their prime and seem ready to make a significant result in a big tournament like this one. They know each other pretty well, as this will be their fifth match against each other, but the first on a major stage. Both of them have taken their game to another level, with strong and consistent first serves that make them difficult opponents against anybody. Looking at their previous head-to-head matches, all four have ended in straight sets, and three of them have been tiebreaks. Given the stakes and the current form of the players, this will be a tight one with both players keeping their serve most of the time, which will take the match over 22.5 games in total.