Eleventh seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada will face unseeded Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France in the Second Round of the 2021 Miami Open. The match is scheduled to be played on Friday March 26th, 2021.
This is a potentially tricky match for the young Canadian star, and he will have hoped to have an easier opening match here at the 2021 Miami Open. Pierre-Hugues Herbert is a very dangerous opponent that has found form recently. Will Auger-Aliassime advance as expected, or can the Frenchman cause the upset?
Felix Auger-Aliassime is currently ranked #18 in the ATP world rankings and is considered one of the brightest young stars on the tour. He is a very talented player, with a huge game. However, he has long struggled with his focus, and is known to commit numerous unforced errors at times. When he is in form, he has the big game capable of beating anyone as evidenced by his multiple top 15 wins. He enters this tournament in good form, having reached the Quarter-Finals at the 2021 Acapulco Open where he narrowly lost to Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas in three sets. He will have taken lots of confidence from that loss, as Tsitsipas has been one of the most outstanding players on the year. Felix Auger-Aliassime enters this match as the favorite, but will be wary of his opponent who is more than capable of causing the upset.
Pierre-Hugues Herbert is currently ranked outside the top 70, but has been as high as #33 a few years ago. A very talented player, he is one player than many of the top players would have been eager to avoid early on, especially on a hard court. While he has struggled mightily with injuries and loss of form over the past few years, he has recently turned things around, reaching the Final in Marseille, narrowly losing to Danill Medvedev in three sets. He enters this match as the underdog but has been known to cause upsets before, and the error-prone FAA will need to be cautious here.
While this is a difficult Second Round test for FAA, it is one that I expect him to pass. He has matured greatly as a player, and is not as likely to have bad days as he was in the past. Expect Herbert to give him a stern test, but ultimately Felix Auger-Aliassime will advance to the Third Round here at the 2021 Miami Open.