MIAMI, March 20: Britain’s Jack Draper suffered a surprise defeat to American Reilly Opelka in the second round of the Miami Open on Friday, while Ethan Quinn claimed the biggest win of his career by upsetting 11th seed Casper Ruud.
Draper had arrived in Florida on the back of a quarter-final run at Indian Wells, just his second ATP Tour event after an extended spell out with an arm injury, but was unable to build on that momentum.
Opelka produced a dominant serving display to beat 25th seed Draper 7-6(3) 7-6(0), firing 25 aces and 47 winners to reach the third round on home soil.
“I didn’t have many chances, especially on his serve,” Draper told reporters.
“I didn’t get broken in the match so that was kind of my job, right?”
Earlier, after rain disrupted play in Miami Gardens, fellow American Quinn saved seven set points on his way to a 6-4 7-6(7) victory over Ruud, progressing for the first time in his career to a third round at a Masters 1000 event.
Italy’s Matteo Berrettini, a former world number six, also clinched a surprise 6-4 6-4 win over 10th seed Alexander Bublik.
TOP SEEDS ADVANCE
Persistent rain forced further scheduling changes, with several matches pushed to Saturday, while world number one and newly crowned Indian Wells champion Aryna Sabalenka was moved to a secondary court to face Ann Li.
Sabalenka survived a stern battle against her American opponent, grinding out a 7-6(5) 6-4 victory to reach the third round.
“I was there, I was fighting no matter what, even though my game probably wasn’t the best one that I have,” Sabalenka said in her on-court interview.
“She played incredible tennis – she was super aggressive and she served incredibly.”
Men’s top seed Carlos Alcaraz later kept his title charge on track, sailing through to the next round with a composed 6-4 6-4 win over Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca.
World number two Elena Rybakina continued her tremendous form, defeating her Kazakh compatriot Yulia Putintseva 6-3 6-3.Sixth seed Amanda Anisimova overcame a second-set wobble, after serving for the match before the rain delay, to beat Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic 6-1 5-7 6-4.
Fourth seed Coco Gauff and seventh seed Jasmine Paolini both came from a set down to defeat Elisabetta Cocciareto and Taylor Townsend, respectively, and advanced to the next round.
JAPAN’S SAKAMOTO CLAIMS MAIDEN ATP WIN’
Rei Sakamoto became the latest teenager to make an impact at the Miami Open on Friday, claiming his first ATP Tour victory as five young players reached the second round of the Masters 1000 event for the first time in 19 years.
The 19-year-old Japanese wildcard beat Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-4 3-6 7-6(7) in a rain-interrupted match to set up a second-round meeting with ninth seed Daniil Medvedev.
Sakamoto, who won the boys’ singles title at the 2024 Australian Open, is ranked 164th in the world and his victory added to a remarkable collection of teenage triumphs at Hard Rock Stadium this week.
Moise Kouame, 17, beat American qualifier Zachary Svajda 5-7 6-4 6-4 to become the youngest male player to win a match in Miami and the youngest to claim an ATP Masters 1000 victory since Rafael Nadal in 2003.
Kouame also became the first player born in 2009 or later to win an ATP Tour match.
Ranked 385th in the world, the French wildcard is the youngest player ranked in the top 900 players and next plays Czech 21st seed Jiri Lehecka.
Brazilian 19-year-old Joao Fonseca eked out a 6-4 3-6 6-2 victory over Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan to set up a second-round clash with world number one Carlos AlcarazWhile American Darwin Blanch, an 18-year-old wildcard, overcame German Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3 3-6 6-3.Together with Spanish 19-year-old Rafael Jodar, who beat German Yannick Hanfmann 6-4 4-6 6-1, the five teenagers reaching the second round in Miami marked the first such occurrence since 2007.When a group including the 19-year-old Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Evgeny Korolev and Sam Querrey , as well as Juan Martin del Potro, 18, came through the opening round.(Agencies)
