Federer and Djokovic massive favourites to progress in Miami
Published:Roger Federer heads into his opening game of the Sony Ericsson against American teenager Ryan Harrison as the 1/33 favourite and should have no problem progressing to the next round.
Federer has started to find the form that made him arguably the greatest player in the history of the game and even the man himself feels he is back to somewhere near his best.
Speaking to the Miami Herald, Federer said: “I have played some of my best tennis since I turned 30 last August.
“I’m happy to see that. I expected it was possible, but I’m happy to prove it to myself and some people, to prove to my fans that, they’re right — that I’m still a great player.”
That is ominous for Harrison who has shown plenty of potential throughout his short career and fought back to beat Italian Potito Starace 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 6-4 in his opening game in Miami.
It will take more than potential to beat Federer though and backing the Swiss to win 2-0 at 8/1 looks like the only bet worth consideration.
Finally, World No.1 Novak Djokovic has a slightly tougher game against Marcos Baghdatis but the outcome should be the same.
The players have faced each other on six occasions and the Serb has won each encounter.
However, only one of those encounters saw Djokovic win in straight sets – and that was back in 2007.
Djokovic should have no problem getting another win in this clash, but the 1/20 offered for the straight win looks a little short. So, backing Baghdatis to win one set but succumb to a 2-1 defeat looks tempting at 9/2.
