After some two weeks run in the Californian desert where ATP players had to fight against extreme heat and dryness, the entire pack crossed the United States for another Masters 1000 journey, this time in miami. The men's draw is out and has already produced a certain level of excitement. Since Djokovic and Murray are not competing, the usual top-seeds list suffered some changes having Stan Wawrinka as the no. 1 seed. For Rafael Nadal, Miami is one of the last places where he is still expected to make it to the end.
Rafael Nadal has four finals under his belt
Throughout his career, the Spaniard now ranked 7th in the world made it to the final stage on four different occasions. He lost all of them either against Roger Federer (2005) in an epic five sets match, twice against Novak Djokovic (2011, 2014) or Nikolay Davydenko (2008). Last year, Nadal was forced to quit in the 2nd round match against Damir Dzumhur due to an altered state caused by extreme heat. When it comes to Masters 1000 events, Nadal gathered a 28 titles pile while Miami remains a forbidden territory on this matter. This time, it won't be just the same as the main draw features some big names. Stan Wawrinka, Indian Wells' runner-up last week is looking for further success in Masters event.
Kei Nishikori, last year's runner-up, will try to do his best especially since Miami is the place where his home is. Federer, despite having a full-stretched run at Indian Wells seems quite unstoppable while Milos Raonic will try making his way back to his top game. Rafael Nadal and Milos Raonic could produce a shocker in the quarterfinals unless some upsets occurred.
Still not there yet
Playing a Grand Slam final in the opening weeks of the season could have been the right incentive for the Spaniard. Since that great run in Melbourne, his overall performance has been a bit shady having some inconsistencies floating around. Unlike him, Federer, the other dark horse in Melbourne, put that gain into a further fertile ground. The outcome was obvious in Indian Wells' 4th round where Federer breezed past Nadal in straight sets.
