Good morning, Court Theorists! ☕️🌴😎
Today’s tennis mood: Seriously dazzled with popcorn preparation on the ready.
Let’s tennis!
-Allen
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🎾 Catching up: After a packed schedule on Thursday, the Miami Open is mostly back on schedule following days of rain and an out-of-commission stadium court. While round two kicks off today (also in a jam-packed schedule), there are still a handful of first-round matches on the men’s side to be completed. But in the wild day that was yesterday, here are some outcomes you may have missed…
Magda Linette pulled off the super upset of the day over compatriot and number two seed Iga Swiatek 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Raphael Collignon defeated Grigor Dimitrov 7-6, 4-6, 7-6.
Botic van de Zandschulp took down Denis Shapovalov 7-5, 6-3.
Moise Kouame defeated Zachary Svajda 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.
And Arthur Fery has supreme racket-handling skills.
🎾 A first: Moise Kouame, the 17-year-old Miami Open wild card from France, made history on Thursday by winning his first-round match over American Zach Svajda. The 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 win made him the youngest Masters 1000 match winner since Rafael Nadal in 2003. Kouame may have been struggling physically by the end, but that didn’t hold back the outpouring of emotion once it was over.
What he said: “It’s huge,” Kouame told Tennis Channel after the match. “[My] first main draw at a Masters 1000 here in Miami — it’s such a cool place. I’m really happy to win that match today and hopefully I can win many more.” He added: “It’s my first time, so I didn’t expect all of this, but here I am. I need to get used to it pretty fast. It brings me a lot of confidence. It shows me that I’m on the right path. I just need to keep working.”
But, also: What do you say when Djokovic congratulates you?
🎾 Out of the bag: That blacked-out racket that Alexander Bublik has been playing with for some time isn’t the frame everyone thought it was. A tipster told us that he was switching to Diadem, and the big announcement was supposed to come today. Welp, Bublik didn’t get the memo, and he posted it on his Instagram Stories last night. Absolutely nobody can tell Alexander Bublik what to do. But, in all seriousness, that’s a big get for a still relatively new company, making it their second (almost) top 10 player alongside Elina Svitolina.
🎾 One to watch: Carlos Alcaraz vs. Joao Fonseca (2nd round - ATP 1000 - Miami): Watch this one because it’s the match everyone is talking about. Everyone wants to know how the kid is going to match up against…well…the other kid. Expect tons of explosive hitting and competitive drama for a fun night match in Miami before a crowd that will know no boundaries.
The record: This will be the first time Carlos Alcaraz and Joao Fonseca face each other.
On the line: There’s little doubt that Fonseca sees this as an opportunity to say the hype around him is deserved, and he doesn’t need to win to prove (but it would be a nice bonus). Meanwhile, Alcaraz wants to win this as decisively as possible to let Fonseca know that he’s not approaching the upper echelon anytime soon.
🎾 🏆 🎤 YOUR CALL
(Yesterday’s poll results: 76% of you wanted Jennifer Brady to defeat Sloane Stephens. Stephens won 6-4, 6-2.)
And that’s game.
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Matches we’re monitoring today:
Miami - WTA 1000 (Hard)
Elisabetta Cocciaretto vs. Coco Gauff (2nd rd)
Aryna Sabalenka vs. Ann Li (2nd rd)
Elena Rybakina vs. Yulia Putintseva (2nd rd)
Amanda Anisimova vs. Ajla Tomljanovic (2nd rd)
Francesca Jones vs. Jessica Pegula (2nd rd)
Talia Gibson vs. Naomi Oska (2nd rd)
Anna Blinkova vs. Victoria Mboko (2nd rd)
Maria Sakkari vs. Alycia Parks (2nd rd)
Katie Boulter vs. Clara Tauson (2nd rd)
Taylor Townsend vs. Jasmine Paolini (2nd rd)
Karolina Muchova vs. Camila Osorio (2nd rd)
Hailey Baptiste vs. Liudmila Samsonova (2nd rd)
Qinwen Zheng vs. Sloane Stephens (2nd rd)
Peyton Stearns vs. Jaqueline Cristian (2nd rd)
Jelena Ostapenko vs. Dayana Yastremska (2nd rd)
Iva Jovic vs. Paula Badosa (2nd rd)
Caty McNally vs. Xinyu Wang (2nd rd)
Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Lilli Tagger (2nd rd)
Miami - ATP 1000 (Hard)
Ethan Quinn vs. Casper Ruud (2nd rd)
Jack Draper vs. Reilly Opelka (2nd rd)
Botic van de Zandschulp vs. Taylor Fritz (2nd rd)
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Alex de Minaur (2nd rd)
Aleksandar Kovacevic vs. Rei Sakamoto (1st rd)
Tommy Paul vs. Adrian Mannarino (2nd rd)
Alexander Bublik vs. Matteo Berrettini (2nd rd)
Roberto Bautista Agut vs. Karen Khachanov (2nd rd)
Camilo Ugo Carabelli vs. Sebastian Korda (2nd rd)
Gabriel Diallo vs. Yibing Wu (2nd rd)
Moise Kouame vs. Jiri Lehecka (2nd rd)
Aleksandar Vukic vs. Rafael Jodar (2nd rd)
Arthur Fils vs. Darwin Blanch (2nd rd)
Zizou Bergs vs. Tomas Martin Etcheverry (2nd rd)
📺 Learn how to watch today’s action over at Tennis Watchers.
💬 For real-time match commentary and conversation, follow Court Theory on Bluesky.
Daniel James Riggs, the grandson of Bobby Riggs, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after he was found guilty of all sorts of predatory behavior involving minors he was coaching.
Iga Swiatek says she’s caught in a “nightmare” after losing to Magda Linette in her first match in Miami.
Fran Jones, the British player who has a condition called Ectrodactyly Ectodermal Dysplasia (EEC) syndrome, shows why she continues to rise in the fan-favorite category following her win over Venus Williams on Thursday.
Alex Eala sits down for a Q&A with the WTA as she attempts to meet expectations set from last year’s Miami Open.
Sloane Stephens evaluates her latest comeback.
This is what it’s like being Jason Stacy, Aryna Sabalenka’s physio-turned-team CEO.
Rennae and Caitlin hit the Sunshine Double on the Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast.
And Andy Roddick talks with James Blake about chaos and scheduling at the Miami Open.
