Andy Roddick vs Juan Monaco: Previewing Their Fourth Round Matchup

Today will mark only the second time that Andy Roddick and Juan Monaco will do battle on a tennis court.

The two met last year on a hard court in Winston-Salem, with Roddick defeating the Argentine Monaco, 6-1, 6-4. Roddick completely dominated that match converting three of his five break points while never even seceding a break point opportunity to Monaco. Andy hit nine aces to Monaco's one.

It is interesting that this will only be their second-career meeting due to the fact that they are both veterans. Roddick is 29 and Monaco is a year younger. 

Roddick is coming off his biggest victory in a year, when he upset the No. 3 seed Roger Federer in the third round. 

Now Roddick has to back that win up with a victory over Monaco. Anything less than a victory over Monaco would be a disappointment. If he can do that he will be in the quarterfinals, and this result would start to make up for the lackluster year he was having prior to this tournament. 

Monaco has already won a title this year, in Vina Del Mar. 

In the third round Juan beat the 14th seed, Gael Monfils, this was by far the highest seed he has beaten this year. Monaco must view his match against Roddick as very winnable. In fact, he must be much happier to see Roddick across the net from him rather than Federer.

This is big opportunity for both players because they are not facing the highest seed possible at this point. Each of their upsets definitely make the bracket look more open than if Federer had defeated Roddick. 

Andy must look to be aggressive and continue to move forward to take time away from Monaco. This obviously starts with his serve, and Roddick will need his serve to be effective to win this match.

Roddick's best chance in this match is to play aggressive and to utilize his strong play at net. Andy is a much more confident player when he is the one setting the pace of play.

It also may be in Roddick's best interest to keep with his two-handed backhand rather than his slice today. Roddick should do everything he can to put pressure on Monaco, and his slice wouldn't be able to produce that affect.

If Roddick serves like he did last night, which is very possible for him to do, then he should be in good shape against Monaco.

Monaco must draw Roddick into longer rallies because this is where the advantage would start to swing in his favor. If Monaco is able to move Roddick around and keep him behind the baseline then he has a good shot to move on to the quarters. 

That being said I see Roddick winning a hard fought match to advance to the quarterfinals in Miami.

Prediction: Roddick 6-4, 3-6, 7-5