Tim Smyczek is a tenacious fighter on the ATP World Tour, and the American needed all the fight he could muster to defeat young compatriot Tommy Paul 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 in Miami.
Both men were in form coming into this encounter, with both men moving through the qualifying rounds to make the main draw in the second Masters event of the year.
Paul the stronger, benefiting from two double-faults in the opening game from Smyczek to move up 3-0. Smyczek settled down to win six of the next seven games to take the set. An early break in the second for Smyczek put twenty-eight year-old in the driving seat, but Paul broke as Smyczek attempted to serve for the match. Paul would break again to win the second set.
Cue a nervy third set, but it was Smyczek who held his ground, winning deep in third to earn a meeting with John Isner in the third round.
Elsewhere, Smyczek’s fellow American Denis Kudla scored an excellent win against Hyeon Chung. The twenty-three year-old rebounded from the loss of the second set to ease through the third in a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 win. Kudla will now wait and see if Milos Raonic is fit enough to take part in Miami. The Canadian was hampered in his defeat to Djokovic in the final of Indian Wells and his participation in Miami remains somewhat in doubt.
Two other Americans fell early as Brian Baker and Donald Young were dispatched by Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4, 6-2 and Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-1 respectively.
Perhaps the most surprising early loss was that of Borna Coric’s defeat to Denis Istomin. Things looked bleak for the Uzbek after Coric took the first set and then led in the second. Istomin turned it around though, winning 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 to register his first ATP win of the year. Istomin had lost in his first seven events of 2016, with his only win coming in the Irving Challenger last week.
Aljaz Bedene managed to see off the challenge of Spanish wildcard Roberto Carballes-Baena 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, and Santiago Giraldo managed to shake off a poor second set to defeat Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2, 2-6, 6-3. Frenchman Adrian Mannarino lost the first set of his match with Illya Marchenko, but recovered to win 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.
