This tournament is widely regarded as the fifth biggest of the year after the Grand Slams and, accordingly, the top 79 ranked men’s players in the world are taking part. The 19 year old event takes place over eleven days at the Crandon park Tennis Center and the winner will walk away with half a million dollars.
Andre Agassi has a particular liking for this tournament and this is ominous news for the rest of the field. With 49, the Las Vegan has more wins at this than at any other tournament and is defending champion. With two titles already under his belt in three 2003 starts, his form is clearly as deadly as ever. He was simply imperious at the Australian open and followed it with a win at San Jose. The only doubt is that he lost in the first round of his last tournament, Scottsdale, to Thomas Enqvist. Agassi has consistently shown that his desire is as real as it always has been, and his determination to win every match he plays is evident in the big tournaments. The other previous winners such as Sampras and Krajicek are a long way from playing their best and so the only competition is not likely to come from a past champion. He will be well rested after missing out on Indian Wells and so can go all the way in this one for the third successive year. The odds on him doing so are .
World number one Lleyton Hewitt is a major obstacle in front of Agassi as he tries to defend his title. Since losing a five set thriller to Younes El Aynaoui at the Australian Open Hewitt is unbeaten. That includes victories at Scottsdale and Indian Wells last week. He nearly succumbed to the young Moroccan in the first round at Indian Wells once again, when he saved three match points. If they were to meet again in Miami it would be an extremely tough match to call. Hewitt went on to win the final against Gustavo Kuerten with ease, although it should be mentioned that the Brazilian only completed his semi final two hours before starting the final. The young Australian has never made it past the semi finals in Miami, a round he has reached for the last three years. His form is good and he has only lost one match all year. However, his freshness is not what it could be and his record is not superb in this tournament, making his odds of appear too short.
Last year his conqueror was an in form Roger Federer (), and the Swiss player should have a good chance this time around. Like Agassi, Federer has two tournaments to his name this year, from Dubai and Marseille. He is third in the 2003 Champions Race but lost in the second round at Indian Wells to Gustavo Kuerten, who went on to reach the final.
Both British players, Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski are playing but the chances of much progression are limited. Henman has only recently recovered from a shoulder injury and has only one win to his name in three events. This time last year he was in excellent form, making the final at Indian Wells before retiring hurt against eventual finalist Roger Federer at this tournament. His only win in 2003 was fairly impressive against J-M Gambill, but there are far too many doubts to seriously consider him as a contender in this one. Rusedski has also been injured and this will be the first tournament of 2003 for him.
Favourite with the locals is Andy Roddick. The American youngster has been in good form and has been playing well for some time. Currently fourth in the Champions race, the highlight of the year so far was reaching the semi final of the Australian Open. On that occasion it was exhaustion as much as anything that ended his challenge against Rainer Schuettler. His best result at his home state tournament was a quarter final in 2001 when he lost to Lleyton Hewitt but had beaten the likes of Marcelo Rios and Pete Sampras on his way. Last year he lost his first match to Juan Ignacio Chela but we think he can do well this time around. It was again Schuettler who knocked him out of Indian Wells in the quarterfinals last week and so the Floridian will be hoping to avoid a third match with the German. Roddick is extremely talented and has eight trophies to his name already, although none as big as this. With the fervent support of the locals, this is a fine opportunity to claim an important title and he can be found with odds of .
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