ATP Miami Quarter-Final Predictions: Ferrer-Melzer, Haas-Simon

David Ferrer v Jurgen Melzer

Gilles Simon

The second quarter has been entirely plain sailing for David Ferrer who reached the quarter-finals with a straight sets win over Kei Nishikori, 6-4 6-2.  Ferrer's projected opponent in the quarter-finals was supposed to be Juan Martin del Potro, but following his exit in round two to Tobias Kamke, it has been a free-for-all; Jurgen Melzer emerges from the bottom half of section two, which saw all of its seeds lose in the second round.  Melzer defeated Albert Ramos in three sets and is on a nice run of form having won an Challenger event before Miami.  Ferrer has won 6 of 8 encounters with Melzer including the last 3.  It has been a perfect draw for Ferrer and he really should make the semi-finals...

Prediction - Ferrer to beat Melzer in 2 tight sets

Tommy Haas v Gilles Simon
Tommy Haas produced the upset of the week and the whole of March with a comprehensive 6-2 6-4 victory over Novak Djokovic in just 80 minutes.  I really did not see this coming! Haas now takes on Gilles Simon who claimed a mini-upset win over Janko Tipsarevic, 5-7 6-2 6-2.  The top half of the mens draw resembles an ATP 250 line-up and offers a great opportunity for big ranking points.  Haas leads the head-to-head with Simon by 4 wins to 1 including two wins in 2012.  Both have played well this week, but obviously Haas has had the biggest results and he certainly has more weapons than Simon.  It is possible that Haas could have a come down, but I think he will power past Simon...

 Prediction - Haas to beat Simon in 3 sets