Djokovic Rides 16-Match Miami Win Streak Into Friday Opener

Six-time champion Novak Djokovic joins Indian Wells winner Juan Martin del Potro in second-round action on Friday at the Miami Open presented by Itau. Among the other seeds on the schedule are [2] Marin Cilic, [3] Grigor Dimitrov, [19] Hyeon Chung and [26] Kei Nishikori.

Here are five must-see matches Friday: 

Novak Djokovic vs. Benoit Paire
Competing with his elbow pain-free for the “first days in a long, long time”, Novak Djokovic will open his bid to pull clear of his coach Andre Agassi’s tied record of six Miami titles when he squares off against Frenchman Benoit Paire on Friday. Djokovic is on a 16-match winning streak in Miami, sweeping titles in 2014, 2015 and 2016 before missing last year’s tournament with a right elbow injury. He has also won 21 consecutive matches against Frenchmen and 58 of 59 overall since leading Serbia past France in the 2010 Davis Cup final. Ahead of Miami, Djokovic fell to World No. 109 Taro Daniel in the second round in Indian Wells. He has beaten Paire in their lone prior FedEx ATP Head2Head encounter in Cincinnati 2015. Paire opened his season with back-to-back semi-finals in Pune (l. to Anderson) and Sydney (l. to De Minaur). He bowed out in the first round in Indian Wells (l. to Krueger).

View FedEx ATP Head2Head for the following matches from the 2018 Miami Open presented by Itaú & vote for who you think will win! 
Djokovic vs Paire | Cilic vs Herbert | Goffin vs Sousa

Juan Martin del Potro vs. Robin Haase
Djokovic has completed the “Sunshine Double” a record four times and on Friday, Argentine fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro will begin his attempt to achieve the feat for a first time when he opens his Miami campaign against Robin Haase. In one of the most thrilling ATP World Tour finals of the season the 29-year-old on Sunday claimed his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title, saving three championship points in his victory over Roger Federer. The Argentine has nine wins over World No. 1s, most of any player never ranked No. 1 themselves. The No. 6 in the ATP Rankings has won 11 straight matches after his back-to-back titles in Acapulco and Indian Wells and has a 4-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Haase, including a straight-sets victory in the 2017 Miami second round. 

Marin Cilic vs. Pierre-Hugues Herbert
After the greatest start to a season in his career, Marin Cilic arrives in Miami with a Top 2 seeding for the first time and a desire to make up big points following an opening-round exit last season (l. to Chardy). The Croatian opened 2018 with a semi-final in Pune before he reached his third Grand Slam final at the Australian Open (l. to Federer in five sets) and a subsequent career-high No. 3 in the ATP Rankings. He beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the Pune quarter-finals in their only prior FedEx ATP Head2Head clash. Herbert defeated #NextGenATP American Taylor Fritz in the opening round and is coming off his first Masters 1000 Round of 16 appearance last week in Indian Wells (l. to Kohschreiber)

David Goffin vs. Joao Sousa
Belgian David Goffin makes his return after an eye injury from a ball forced his retirement in Rotterdam during a semi-final against Grigor Dimitrov. The 27-year-old had reached back-to-back semi-finals after his run in Montpellier (l. to Gasquet) the week before. Goffin’s best result in Miami is a semi-final two years ago (l. to Djokovic). He leads Portugal’s Joao Sousa 4-0 in the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head series, although Sousa did win a third-round Roland Garros qualifying match in 2012. No. 80 in the ATP Rankings, Sousa is coming off his third victory over a Top 10 opponent leading in, after a come-from-behind upset of No. 5 Alexander Zverev in the Indian Wells second round (l. to Raonic in 3R). The 29-year-old downed Ryan Harrison in the opening round in Miami.

Grigor Dimitrov vs. Maximilian Marterer
After opening his season with a semi-final showing in Brisbane (l. to Kyrgios) and a quarter-final appearance at the Australian Open (l. to Edmund), Dimitrov  reached the Rotterdam final (l. to Federer), his first since claiming last year’s Nitto ATP Finals. The third-seeded Bulgarian has fallen in the first round in his subsequent two events (Dubai l. to Jaziri, Indian Wells l. to Verdasco). Twice he has reached the fourth round in Miami. He will open his 2018 Miami campaign against German Maximilian Marterer. The pair has never played. Marterer beat Marton Fucsovics in his opening match and comes off a second-round appearance in Indian Wells (l. to Berdych), where he saved a match point to defeat Ivo Karlovic.