The Miami Open continues on Friday, with one of the most-anticipated matches set to take centre stage on the Stadium Court as world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz faces teenage sensation Joao Fonseca for the very first time in an official match. Alcaraz beat the Brazilian star when they met in a friendly exhibition contest at the nearby loanDepot Park in Miami during the off-season, but this will be their first real match.
Tournament director James Blake has already admitted that he’s learned his lesson when it comes to scheduling Fonseca’s matches, and the world No. 39 will always get Stadium Court billing. The Miami Open boss explained that the hype Fonseca had with the local fans was something “different” that he’s never even seen with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and co.
That was evident when Fonseca beat Fabian Marozsan on Thursday, with the crowd cheering Marozsan’s mistakes and willing him on to hit errors. So Alcaraz might be in for a shock if the fans start getting vocal with their support for Fonseca.
British No. 1 Jack Draper will also be in action on Friday as he looks to bounce back from his Indian Wells quarter-final defeat to Daniil Medvedev. And last week’s champions, Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner, are hoping to complete the ‘Sunshine Double’ here by winning Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back.
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