Fritz vs. Rune, Sinner vs. Rublev and Alcaraz vs. Paul: Three men's fourth-rounders in Miami you must see

INTERVIEW: Carlos Alcaraz is still rolling

Taylor Fritz vs. Holger Rune

This may be the most intriguing and potentially telling matchup we’ve seen in Miami so far. Fritz, 25, and Rune, 19, have never played. They’re both in the Top 10. They’re coming off breakout seasons in which they won their first Masters 1000 titles. This year, they’ve been good, and Fritz has a title to his name, but each has seen a little of his 2022 momentum dissipate.

Both guys use a muscular baseline attack, and they like to lean into their backhands. Both are feisty competitors in their own ways—Fritz easygoing on the outside, Rune always itching for a fight. The difference may lie in the serve and forehand, two shots where Fritz has an advantage. Winner: Fritz

Jannik Sinner vs. Andrey Rublev

This 11:00 A.M. baseline bash should be an eye-opener for fans in the Grandstand. Sinner and Rublev like to hit the ball hard, with their forehands and two-handed backhands, and their solution to most problems is to hit the ball even harder.

If their previous four matches are any indication, this one will end with either a Sinner victory or a Sinner retirement—that’s how all of the others have gone, leaving their official head-to-head record at 2-2. Recently the Russian and the Italian have both been on a steady ascent. Rublev made the quarters at the Australian Open and the final in Dubai; Sinner won the title in Montpellier, made the final in Rotterdam, and the semis in Indian Wells.

Their fifth meeting is a toss-up, and will surely be a slugfest. But Sinner has been slightly more consistent from one week to the next in 2023. Winner: Sinner

Carlos Alcaraz vs. Tommy Paul

By now, they’re aren’t a lot of players who can claim winning records against Alcaraz. The Spaniard has only been on the tour for a couple of years, and he spent one of them dominating the competition.

But the one time he played Paul, in Canada last summer, Alcaraz didn’t dominate. In fact, he lost. It was hardly a blowout: Alcaraz led by a set and a break, and had a match point. But Paul prevailed, and showed that he’s as close as anyone can get right now to matching Alcaraz’s speed and athleticism around a tennis court.

Can he match him again? Paul has since made a Grand Slam semifinal, in Australia, and he looked good beating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in his last match in Miami. But recent history says Alcaraz remembers his defeats. Two weeks ago, Daniil Medvedev came into their Indian Wells final with a 1-0 record against him. He walked away with five games. Winner: Alcaraz