In a match between two players ranked outside the top 100 on the ATP rankings, Australia’s Christopher O’Connell will face Portugal’s Joao Sousa in the first round of the 2021 Miami Open on Wednesday, March 24. The match is yet to be scheduled. Get the live streaming options of this Christopher O’Connell v Joao Sousa match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Christopher O’Connell v Joao Sousa Head to Head
This will be the first match between O’Connell and Sousa at any level of tennis.
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O’Connell Desperate for Main Draw Success
He had made a decent start to the season as far as main draw success is concerned for a player ranked outside the top 100 but O’Connell’s lost some of that mojo in recent times.
Having made it to round two at both, the Great Ocean Road Open and the Australian Open, O’Connell then lost those two matches. The opening wins would have given him some confidence, or so one would have thought anyway, but since then the results haven’t quite gone his way.
O’Connell needed to go through the qualifiers at both, Doha and Dubai to make it to the main draw of those ATP competitions, only to lose in the first round at both.
And this comes on the back of lacklustre season in 2020, where his best showing came on the Challenger circuit where he finished up as a semifinalist at two of the tournaments. He had won two Challenger titles the previous season.
With a shift to the highest level, the Aussie has managed a direct entry into the main draw here and is fortunate enough to be drawn against a player ranked lower than him but can he carve out a win?
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Sousa Struggles Run Deeper
Once ranked 28th in the world, Sousa has fallen by the wayside in recent times. Last year, for instance, he featured in 12 ATP tournaments through the season and didn’t win a single main draw match,
And if he thought things could get better this season, it’s unfortunately not been the case for the Portuguese player.
Sousa started the season with an opening round match at the Antalya Challenger where he lost that in straight sets, and then followed it up with three back to back first round defeats in Cordoba, Buenos Aires and Santiago.
When he then featured in the Acapulco Open qualifiers, Sousa failed to make it beyond that, losing in the second round of the qualifying rounds there.
With his struggles well-chronicled and hard court not his most preferred surface, it looks like his issues could be extended.
O’Connell v Sousa Prediction and Tip
No surprises O’Connell starts off at 2/5 to win this one and 10/11 to do that in straight sets. Looking for the latter as a realistic option but to play it safe, we will go with the former.
Tip: O’Connell to win: 2/5 (bet365)
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The 2021 Miami Open will be played from March 22 to April 4. You can watch & bet on these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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