AS the COVID-19 pandemic continues, Draft Central is extending the fantasy tennis coverage throughout the ATP and WTA seasons to simulate tournaments and see just how they might have gone down. The next ATP tournament to be completed will be the Miami Open, which was meant to be held in March. The current top 100 in ATP rankings will compete, bar reigning champion Roger Federer and Kei Nishikori who are currently recovering from injury.

FAVOURITE:

Dominic Thiem (AUT)

Fresh off an Indian Wells fantasy title, Thiem will look to go back-to-back on the circuit and with the form behind him is in good stead to do so. A confidence-boosting win over Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells will see Thiem come on strong with his clean hit and winning rate off his serve. The 26-year-old has 17 titles to his name thanks to the Indian Wells victory, and is really in the best form of his career with the five 2019 titles and another solid year at his career-high ranking.

CONTENDERS:

Novak Djokovic (SRB)

The hard court specialist and first seed will look to bounce back from the Indian Wells final and will ultimately have that driving force behind him to make it through to the next round. With the Swiss Master still out injured Djokovic will look to pick up where he left off prior to the Indian Wells final. His speed traversing the court and uncanny ability to perform again and again will give him an opportunity at an 80th career title. Djokovic’s last Miami title – his sixth in fact – was in 2016, and at the rate he is at thus far in 2020 after a stellar 2019, expect Djokovic to be right up there once more.

Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE)

Fifth seed Tsitsipas won a title in Marseille in February but has otherwise been relatively quiet this year, so will look to right that at the Miami Open and go one better. The youngster has plenty of class and talent to get the job done but is yet to win a Masters 1000 tournament making it a tough one on the court. That being said, of his five career titles, four have come on hard court, meaning he’s still in with a good chance depending on his draw.

Daniil Medvedev (RUS)

Coming off a stellar 2019 on the tour, collecting four titles, Medvedev may not have had the winning start he hoped for in 2020 but is another who is a real contender thanks to that form. Medvedev uses his height and impressive wing span to his advantage while the speed on his serve has seen him rack up plenty of aces. With all seven of his titles coming on hard court he is hard to stop so will rely on his experience and consistency to go far in this one.

ROUGHIE:

Andrey Rublev (RUS)

With speed and power, 22-year-old Rublev has collected the two titles already this year, making him a real option to continue his stellar form and add to his tally. Already ahead of his prior best seasons in 2019 and 2018, where he collected just the one title each year, Rublev has nowhere to go but up so will look to do that at Miami. His solid form on hard court will have him up there among the best and while he is yet to land inside the top 10, another good tournament here could put him in prime position to bolt up the rankings.

DARK HORSE:

Andy Murray (GBR)

The British wildcard will look to turn over a new leaf, and while he currently ranks at 129th, he is a past world number one and does still have the capability to bring the heat against less experienced up-and-comers. With two Miami titles under his belt already – albeit in 2009 and 2013 respectively – Murray knows what it takes to nab the silverware and at age 32 he should still have plenty left in the tank to apply some pressure in the early stages, if not later in the tournament.