Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo notched their first win since the Australian Open on Saturday in Miami. The Croatian/Brazilian pairing won six ATP Tour titles from 2013-16 and are now playing their sixth event as a team this season.

They opened their campaign at the Miami Open presented by Itau with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Belgians Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen, saving four out of five break points in the contest. The duo dropped serve on a sudden-death point in the very first game, but held strong the rest of the way to advance to the second round.

The other four break points all came in the opening game of set two, when they escaped 0/40 to get on the board before breaking to love in the next game. That was part of a run of 10 straight points that set Dodig and Melo on course for a straightforward second set. 

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They will next face Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini, who upset fourth seeds John Peers and Filip Polasek, 6-2, 6-4, on Saturday.

The tournament’s second and third seeds started their respective campaigns with a pair of straight-sets victories. Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury got past Lloyd Glasspool and Michael Venus, 7-5, 6-4, while Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos were 6-2, 6-2 winners over Raven Klaasen and Ben McLachlan.

The only other seeded duo in action, eighth seeds Nicolas Mahut and Fabrice Martin, were eliminated by Edouard Roger-Vasselion and Austin Krajicek, 6-3, 6-4.

At the conclusion of Saturday’s play, the Round of 16 will be set in Miami.

Andy Murray had high praise for Daniil Medvedev before their clash at the Miami Open presented by Itau. The top seed showed why on Saturday.

Medvedev dispatched Murray 6-4, 6-2 to reach the fourth round at the season’s second ATP Masters 1000 event and take a 2-0 lead in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series. The 13-time tour-level titlist will next play 27th seed Cristian Garin or Spaniard Pedro Martinez.

“I think it was a great match. It’s never easy, first-round matches, even if you practise on the same courts for one or two months, it’s never going to be the same as a competitive tournament match,” Medvedev said in his post-match interview. “So I’m happy that I managed to have zero break points against me. I feel like I have some room for improvement, but it was a great match against an amazing player and I’m happy that I managed to go through.”

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It was a good start to the tournament for Medvedev, who must reach the semi-finals in Miami to retake the top spot in the ATP Rankings from Novak Djokovic on 4 April. The 26-year-old climbed to World No. 1 on 28 February before relinquishing it on Monday following the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. 

Murray recently announced that Ivan Lendl would be rejoining his team, and the former World No. 1 was in the Scot’s box inside Hard Rock Stadium. The crowd was on Murray’s side, frequently cheering his impressive shots, especially on big points.

But Medvedev was too solid from the baseline and on serve for the wild card to overcome. He did not face a break point in his one-hour, 30-minute victory.

“On the days when you serve good, your opponent doesn’t have this freedom to return, it helps you,” Medvedev said. “[In the] second set, the scoreline was easier, it was much tougher in the beginning, but when your opponent knows you’re probably going to get some aces and it’s not going to be easy for him to return, he gets pressure on his serve and many times that is what happens in close matches.”

Murray did not necessarily do anything wrong in the match, but he was unable to step into the court often enough to displace the top seed from his comfort zone. Medvedev appeared full of confidence in neutral rallies and never appeared under stress against the two-time Miami champion.

“Every opportunity I had I tried to take it, to go for it,” Medvedev said. “And there were a lot of moments when I was happy about my game.”

When J.J. Wolf arrived at the Miami Open presented by Itau, he had a good laugh.

“I FaceTimed a bunch of my friends who either played [football] at Ohio State or are playing professionally now and was like, ‘Shouldn’t you guys be here, not me?’” Wolf recalled. “It was kind of funny and they all got good kicks out of it.”

Hard Rock Stadium is the home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. However, Wolf, a Cincinnati Bengals fan, will be the centre of attention at the same venue on Saturday when he plays third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in primetime.

If this match was played last year, the first thing fans would have noticed was Wolf’s mullet, which became arguably the most talked about hairstyle on the ATP Tour. But now, the flowing hair is gone and the focus can go on one thing: his tennis.

“I think having the haircut, I expected the questions,” Wolf said. “But I feel a lot better on court without it now, just kind of focussing on my tennis. I’m happy it’s going how it is.

“I don’t think it bothered my tennis, but maybe distracted from it a little bit. It was definitely a talking point. It was talked about a lot, but it’s just hair.”

^{Photo Credit: Peter Staples/ATP Tour}
Wolf played college tennis at Ohio State University from 2017-19 and was named an All-American in 2019. The following year, after turning professional, he reached the third round of the US Open.

But it has not always been easy for the former Buckeye. Most recently, in early 2021, Wolf underwent two hernia surgeries, which sidelined him for seven months.

“[There was] a little bit of frustration, but I feel kind of lucky that I had to go through it to realise how professional I have to be and how much more I could be doing,” Wolf said.

Upon his return over the American summer, he won a set against each of Brandon Nakashima, John Isner and Frances Tiafoe, but was unable to finish any of those matches off. However, Wolf finished the season strong by claiming his fifth ATP Challenger Tour title in Las Vegas and advancing to two more semi-finals. And in 2022, so far, so good.

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Wolf is currently No. 167 in the ATP Rankings, but has been competing at a higher level than that. The 23-year-old earned three impressive wins in Acapulco, defeating Andreas Seppi and Kevin Anderson in qualifying before upsetting Lorenzo Sonego in the main draw. In both Indian Wells and Miami, Wolf qualified without losing a set and then won his first round in the main draw in straight sets. In the California desert, he faltered in the second round.

“I’ve been having a great time, really trying to take care of my body. I’ve been very lucky to feel pretty healthy recently,” Wolf said. “So I’ll lay my body on the line for all these matches and give it everything I’ve got.”

Wolf just played Tsitsipas in Acapulco, where the Greek triumphed 6-1, 6-0. However, the home favourite said he is not going to worry about that on Saturday.

“I don’t really think about who I’m playing too much,” Wolf said. “I just try to focus on my game. But obviously playing in the second round of a Masters [1000] tournament is super fun, so I’m really excited to see how it goes.”

The last time Casper Ruud competed at the Miami Open presented by Itau, in 2019, he was the No. 98 player in the ATP Rankings. On Friday evening he showed why he is on a whole new level now.

The World No. 8 cruised past Switzerland’s Henri Laaksonen 6-1, 6-2 in 50 minutes to earn his first main draw win in Miami. Seeded sixth, he is into the third round at Hard Rock Stadium.

Ruud did not face a break point and he won a higher rate of his second-serve points (70%) than Laaksonen did his first-serve points (54%). He converted four of his six break points to move through.

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The seven-time ATP Tour titlist will have to maintain his level in the third round against big-serving Kazakhstani Alexander Bublik. The 30th seed clawed past Colombian qualifier Daniel Elahi Galan 6-7(7), 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and 10 minutes.

Bublik hit 13 double faults, but he was able to overcome that behind 11 aces and six breaks of Galan’s serve. Ruud leads Bublik 3-1 in their ATP Head2Head series, but the Kazakhstani earned his lone victory against the Norwegian one month ago in Davis Cup action.

Gael Monfils, who is off to a strong start to his season, continued his good form with a 7-6(9), 6-1 triumph against German Oscar Otte. This year’s Adelaide International 1 champion will face Argentina Francisco Cerundolo, who led by a set and a break when American Reilly Opelka retired due to a right shoulder injury.

Cerundolo’s younger brother, Juan Manuel Cerundolo, earned a 7-6(7), 3-6, 6-3 win against lucky loser Kevin Anderson, the former World No. 5. The 2021 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals competitor began the week without an ATP Masters 1000 match win, and now he has two.

Did You Know?
Ruud has won six of his seven ATP Tour titles on clay courts, but he has also enjoyed success on hard courts. At last year’s Nitto ATP Finals — which is played on an indoor hard court — he made the semi-finals on his debut.

Are Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic ready to make a successful title defence this week at the Miami Open presented by Itau?

The Croatians made a good start on Friday when they defeated Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili and Serbian Laslo Djere 7-6(3), 6-1 to reach the second round. Last year, they did not lose a set en route to the title.

Next round will be a tough showdown against Canadian Denis Shapovalov and Indian Rohan Bopanna, who eliminated El Salvador’s Marcelo Arevalo and Dutchman Jean-Julien Rojer 6-7(5), 6-2, 10-3.

In other action, sixth seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski ousted South African Lloyd Harris and Dutchman Matwe Middelkoop 7-6(6), 7-5. Seventh seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares did not advance, as Argentines Federico Delbonis and Maximo Gonzalez upset them 6-7(4), 6-4, 10-8.

Australian Open finalists Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell also reached the second round with a 6-3, 6-0 triumph against fellow Aussie Alex de Minaur and Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

Daniil Medvedev begins his Miami Open presented by Itau campaign hunting a first title in south Florida. If that wasn’t motivation enough, the top seed also knows that a run to the semi-finals will secure his return to the top of the ATP Rankings after just three weeks away.

Another former World No. 1 looms large in Medvedev’s path, however, as his clash with two-time champion Andy Murray headlines Saturday’s action at Hard Rock Stadium.

Medvedev won the pair’s only previous meeting in Brisbane in 2019 but the World No. 2 has not been past the quarter-final stage in three appearances in Miami. In contrast, Murray holds a 29-9 match record at the ATP Masters 1000 event and lifted the trophy in 2009 and 2013, although this is the first time he has played at the tournament since it moved from its former home at Key Biscayne.

Third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas is also in action for the first time this week as he takes on American qualifier J.J. Wolf. The pair met for the first time in Acapulco in February and Tsitsipas will be hoping for a repeat result – the Greek completed a 6-1, 6-0 victory in just 47 minutes in Mexico. World No. 167 Wolf will be full of confidence, however, after beating Germany’s Daniel Altmaier in the first round in straight sets on his Miami debut.

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Felix Auger-Aliassime will look to bounce back from a rare disappointment in 2022 when he takes on World No. 48 Miomir Kecmanovic. Auger-Aliassime suffered a second-round loss to Botic van de Zandschulp at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, but prior to that defeat had enjoyed a storming start to the year that included leading Team Canada to ATP Cup glory and clinching a first ATP Tour title at the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.

His opponent on Saturday had no such problems in Indian Wells. Kecmanovic upset Marin Cilic and Matteo Berrettini on his way to the quarter-finals in California, but the Serb has never been past the second round in Miami. He has beaten Auger-Aliassime at a Masters 1000 event before, however, running out a straight sets winner at the 2019 Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, the pair’s only previous tour-level meeting.

Hubert Hurkacz will step on court at Hard Rock Stadium for the first time since clinching his maiden Masters 1000 title at the same venue a year ago. The World No. 10 begins his defence with a first meeting with France’s Arthur Rinderknech, who beat Laslo Djere on Miami debut in the first round on Thursday. Hurkacz is seeking to become the first man to defend the Miami title since Novak Djokovic in 2016.

An even more recent first-time Masters 1000 winner also kicks off his Miami campaign on Saturday. Taylor Fritz ended Rafael Nadal’s unbeaten season to clinch the title in Indian Wells last week, the American fighting through an ankle problem to secure the biggest title of his career.
Fritz will hope he is back in good enough shape to improve his 2-0 ATP Head2Head series record with Mikhail Kukushkin. The World No. 159 set the meeting with Fritz by beating van de Zandschulp in the first round but has not been past the second round in 10 appearances in Miami.

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Another promising American, Sebastian Korda, faces Albert Ramos-Vinolas as the #NextGenATP star seeks to improve on his dream quarter-final run on debut in 2021. The man who beat Korda in the final of the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in November, Carlos Alcaraz, chases his first match win in Miami against Marton Fucsovics. Alcaraz beat the Hungarian in the pair’s only previous meeting in Cincinnati last year.

Also in action on Saturday are Denis Shapovalov and Jenson Brooksby, who both come into their second-round matches with 0-2 ATP Head2Head series records against their respective opponents. Shapovalov faces the big-serving South African Lloyd Harris, while Brooksby takes on World No. 20 Nikoloz Basilashvili.

ORDER OF PLAY – SATURDAY, MARCH 26, 2022

STADIUM start 12:00 noon
ATP – [1] D. Medvedev vs [WC] A. Murray (GBR)
WTA – [9] D. Collins (USA) vs [Q] V. Zvonareva
WTA – K. Muchova (CZE) vs N. Osaka (JPN)

Not Before 7:00 pm
ATP – [3] S. Tsitsipas (GRE) vs [Q] J. Wolf (USA)

Not Before 9:00 pm
WTA – K. Kanepi (EST) vs [8] O. Jabeur (TUN)

GRANDSTAND start 11:00 am
WTA – [22] B. Bencic (SUI) vs H. Watson (GBR)
ATP – A. Rinderknech (FRA) vs [8] H. Hurkacz (POL)
ATP – M. Kecmanovic (SRB) vs [7] F. Auger-Aliassime (CAN)
ATP – [11] T. Fritz (USA) vs [Q] M. Kukushkin (KAZ)

Not Before 7:00 PM
WTA – A. Li (USA) vs A. Riske (USA)

BUTCH BUCHHOLZ start 11:00 am
WTA – K. Siniakova (CZE) vs [WC] D. Saville (AUS)

Not Before 12:30 PM
WTA – I. Begu (ROU) vs A. Sasnovich
ATP – [32] A. Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) vs S. Korda (USA)
ATP – [12] D. Shapovalov (CAN) vs L. Harris (RSA)
ATP – M. Fucsovics (HUN) vs [14] C. Alcaraz (ESP)

COURT 1 start 11:00 am
ATP – T. Paul (USA) vs [23] K. Khachanov
ATP – [Q] Y. Nishioka (JPN) vs [24] D. Evans (GBR)
WTA – [LL] L. Bronzetti (ITA) vs [Q] A. Kalinskaya
ATP – [18] N. Basilashvili (GEO) vs J. Brooksby (USA)
ATP – [21] M. Cilic (CRO) vs A. Popyrin (AUS)

COURT 7 start 11:00 am
ATP – K. Majchrzak (POL) vs [15] R. Bautista Agut (ESP)
WTA – A. Guarachi (CHI) / Y. Xu (CHN) vs N. Kichenok (UKR) / R. Olaru (ROU)
WTA – [ALT] E. Alexandrova / Z. Yang (CHN) vs [3] S. Stosur (AUS) / S. Zhang (CHN)
WTA – [6] G. Dabrowski (CAN) / G. Olmos (MEX) vs L. Marozava / S. Santamaria (USA)
WTA – [DA SR] L. Siegemund (GER) / V. Zvonareva vs N. Dzalamidze / U. Eikeri (NOR)

COURT 5 start 11:00 am
ATP – J. Thompson (AUS) vs [25] A. de Minaur (AUS)
ATP – P. Martinez (ESP) vs [27] C. Garin (CHI)
ATP – [29] A. Karatsev vs U. Humbert (FRA)
ATP – A. Behar (URU) / G. Escobar (ECU) vs P. Martinez (ESP) / L. Sonego (ITA)
ATP – L. Glasspool (GBR) / M. Venus (NZL) vs [2] R. Ram (USA) / J. Salisbury (GBR)

COURT 2 start 11:00 am
ATP – R. Klaasen (RSA) / B. McLachlan (JPN) vs [3] M. Granollers (ESP) / H. Zeballos (ARG)
ATP – [4] J. Peers (AUS) / F. Polasek (SVK) vs S. Bolelli (ITA) / F. Fognini (ITA)
ATP – T. Brkic (BIH) / N. Cacic (SRB) vs R. Opelka (USA) / J. Sinner (ITA)
ATP – [8] N. Mahut (FRA) / F. Martin (FRA) vs [PR] A. Krajicek (USA) / E. Roger-Vasselin (FRA)
ATP – S. Gille (BEL) / J. Vliegen (BEL) vs I. Dodig (CRO) / M. Melo (BRA)

COURT 3 start 11:00 am
WTA – [OSE] A. Cornet (FRA) / J. Teichmann (SUI) vs [5] D. Jurak Schreiber (CRO) / A. Klepac (SLO)
WTA – [1] V. Kudermetova / E. Mertens (BEL) vs [OSE] J. Paolini (ITA) / T. Zidansek (SLO)
WTA – [OSE] P. Badosa (ESP) / A. Sabalenka vs A. Danilina (KAZ) / B. Haddad Maia (BRA)
WTA – A. Muhammad (USA) / E. Shibahara (JPN) vs [8] M. Bouzkova (CZE) / L. Hradecka (CZE)
WTA – [WC] B. Bencic (SUI) / A. Konjuh (CRO) vs [OSE] A. Kalinina (UKR) / E. Rybakina (KAZ)