The Miami Open presented by Itau and ATP World Tour stars welcomed members of the boys’ and girls’ tennis teams from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School for Saturday’s evening session, which was called ‘Marjory Stoneman Douglas Night’ to honour the survivors of a shooting on 14 February in which 17 students and teachers from the school lost their lives. 

Kevin Anderson, Tournament Director James Blake, Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan, Michael Chang, Hyeon Chung, Steve Johnson, Karen Khachanov, Nick Kyrgios, Michael Mmoh, Sam Querrey, Diego Schwartzman, Denis Shapovalov and Alexander Zverev joined members of the WTA Tour with the students on court before play began in a sign of support, and spent time off the court getting to know the teenagers as well. John Isner also met with the teams. All the players wore #MSDSTRONG shirts, which were sold to raise funds for the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Victims’ Fund, and student Angelique Meneses sang the National Anthem.

After the 22-year-old Kyrgios defeated Dusan Lajovic to advance to the third round, the Australian visited the students again and invited the teams to join his practice on Sunday. Those players got an added bonus when Boston Celtics star Gordan Hayward, who played tennis competitively as a junior, joined in.

“I don’t think I’ve done anything that special, just to bring them out here to a training session, to give them the opportunity to meet professionals and make their day, that’s easy for me,” Kyrgios said according to the Miami Herald. “It made the training session more fun for me and, obviously, it’s a tough time for them, so if they can get out here and get their minds on something else, it’s pretty important.”

It is not the first time Kyrgios has done his part to offer support to others. The World No. 20 created his NK Foundation to support underprivileged youth, and the foundation received an ATP ACES For Charity grant earlier this year. 

Tough loss Sunday for @NickKyrgios, but he still won at the #AusOpen, spending time with kids who are battling disease after practice. @foundation_nk received an ATP Aces For Charity grant this year. Learn more about Kyrgios’ efforts:
?: Geoff Rankin
➡️ https://t.co/Q0gMwfGeXg pic.twitter.com/jmVjiMAHb8

— ATP World Tour (@ATPWorldTour) January 22, 2018

“I’m a strong believer in making a difference where you can,” Kyrgios tweeted Sunday evening. 

Support Marjory Stoneman Douglas Victims’ Fund

Learn More About ATP ACES For Charity

Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic have been one of the most successful doubles teams in 2018, and are showing once again that their partnership is paying dividends at the Miami Open presented by Itau. 

Having started the season on a 17-match win streak, which was ultimately halted in the final in Rotterdam, the Austrian/Croatian duo has yet to let up. In Miami this week, they overcame a tricky opener against Marc Lopez and Feliciano Lopez, and faced another challenge in the second round against another team of matching surnames.

Nevertheless, Marach and Pavic were able to navigate their way past singles stars and brothers Alexander Zverev and Mischa Zverev, 7-6(5), 6-4 in one hour, 27 minutes. The win was their 23^rd of the season, and they were able to generate 12 break points on their opponents’ serves, converting four. 

Earlier in the day, the former top-ranked doubles team of Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares was upset by the unseeded Russian pairing of Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev. The teams were evenly matched throughout, breaking serve just once per set, before Khachanov and Rublev ran away with the Match Tie-break, claiming a 6-4, 5-7, 10/2 victory to advance to the quarter-finals. 

The upsets didn’t stop there – Nikola Mektic and Alexander Peya knocked off No. 2 seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers from a set down, winning 3-6, 6-3, 10/2 in just over an hour. For the second time in as many weeks, Peya played spoiler to Kontinen and Peers, having upset them alongside Philipp Petzschner en route to the title at the Irving Challenger.

Elsewhere, the American partnership of Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey defeated veteran doubles players Rohan Bopanna and Edouard Roger-Vasselin in a 7-6(5), 6-2 decision.

Seeds Nick Kyrgios and Fabio Fognini square off for a place in the Miami Open presented by Itau fourth round on Monday, with Alexander Zverev leading a trio of #NextGenATP stars in action.

View FedEx ATP Head2Head for the following matches from the 2018 Miami Open presented by Itaú & vote for who you think will win! 
Zverev vs Ferrer | Kyrgios vs Fognini | Anderson vs Khachanov

Here are five must-see matches on Monday:

17) Nick Kyrgios vs. 15) Fabio Fognini
Sidelined due to an elbow injury since February 4, Aussie Nick Kyrgios made a resounding return to defeat Dusan Lajovic in his opening Miami Open presented by Itau match. “I know my body is not 100 per cent just yet, but I also know that it’s going to take some time to get back to where I was and playing at the level I was playing at the start of the year,” Kyrios said after the win. The 22-year-old made the perfect start to his season with his fourth ATP World Tour title and first on home soil in Brisbane (d. Harrison). He followed it up with a run to fourth round at the Australian Open (l. to Dimitrov) and played in Australia’s losing Davis Cup tie to Germany. Fifteenth seed Fabio Fognini is his third-round assignment. Separated by just two places in the ATP Rankings, it will be the first FedEx ATP Head2Head battle between the two unpredictable shot-makers. Fognini took down #NextGenATP Spaniard Nicola Kuhn in his opening match. The Italian bagged his sixth ATP World Tour title in Sao Paulo earlier this month (d. Jarry) to return to the Top 20.  

4) Alexander Zverev vs. 28) David Ferrer
Having narrowly avoided a third straight defeat with a two-hour, 13-minute triumph over Russian Daniil Medvedev in his Miami opener, Alexander Zverev faces a tough third-round task when he meets former No. 3 in the ATP Rankings David Ferrer. The German beat the 35-year-old Spaniard for the first time this season in Rotterdam with Ferrer leading the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head series 2-1. Miami is the site of Zverev’s first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 win in 2015 as well as his first Top 10 win at the elite level last year, when he defeated top-seeded Stan Wawrinka en route to the quarter-finals. Ferrer easily dispatched of Evgeny Donskoy in his opening match. A semi-finalist in 2005 and 2006, Ferrer’s best run in Miami came in 2013 when he fell to Andy Murray in a third-set tie-break final.

Thanasi Kokkinakis vs. 31) Fernando Verdasco
Perseverance finally reaped dividends for 21-year-old Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis on Saturday when he scored his biggest career victory over top seed and defending champion Roger Federer in the second round. “I’m happy for him that on the big stage he was able to show it, centre court, Miami, people watching, beating me. It’s a big result for him in his career. I hope it’s going to launch him, really getting his ranking up,” Federer said. After working his way back from a string of injuries over two years Kokkinakis will get his next chance to keep the ranking climbing back up towards to the Top 100 when he meets Spaniard Fernando Verdasco for the first time. The 34-year-old Spaniard is coming off a third-round finish in Indian Wells (d. Dimitrov, l. to Fritz) and a runner-up showing late last month in Rio de Janeiro.

 Watch Full Match Replays

11) Sam Querrey vs. Denis Shapovalov
In his 13th straight Miami appearance, American No. 11 seed Sam Querrey will attempt to reach the fourth round for just the second time (2013) when he takes on #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov for the first time. Querrey has found form on hard courts already this season with a run indoors in the New York Open final and a quarter-final result last week in Indian Wells (l. to Raonic). The 18-year-old Shapovalov is looking to reach the fourth round on debut after wins over Viktor Troicki and No. 24 seed Damir Dzumhur. Last year’s winner of the ATP Star Of Tomorrow presented by Emirates award reached his second ATP World Tour semi-final at the Delray Beach Open (l. to eventual champion Tiafoe) in February. Three of his losses this season have come against Top 15 opponents.

10) Tomas Berdych vs. Frances Tiafoe
Miami has proven a happy hunting ground for Czech 10th seed Tomas Berdych over the years with the 32-year-old having reached the 2010 final (l. to Roddick) and at least the quarter-finals on seven other occasions. In January he defeated Juan Martin Del Potro to reach his seventh Australian Open quarter-final in eight years (l. to Federer). His best result this season is a semi-final finish in Marseille (l. to Khachanov). Berdych has never played #NextGenATP American Tiafoe. The 20-year-old Tiafoe is riding the confidence of his maiden ATP World Tour title last month. He downed Shapovalov, Next Gen ATP Finals champion Hyeon Chung and his childhood idol Del Potro en route to the Delray Beach Open title before a first-round exit against compatriot Ernest Escobedo in Indian Wells.

If there’s anyone who knows how to make a comeback, it’s Juan Martin del Potro.

Del Potro has been on the receiving end of multiple surgeries, including procedures on both wrists, which have ultimately put unwanted delays on his career. Each time though, the Argentine has been able to make the rebound and assert himself back to the upper echelons of the game. 

On Sunday at the Miami Open presented by Itau, he plays a player looking to do the same.

View FedEx ATP Head2Head for the following matches from the 2018 Miami Open presented by Itaú & vote for who you think will win! 
Del Potro vs Nishikori | Schwartzman vs Raonic | Cilic vs Pospisil

In February, Kei Nishikori made his return from a five-month wrist injury layoff at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Newport Beach. Although he would lose in his first match, he won the RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas the following week, slowly working his way back to the world-beating form that has seen him near the top of the ATP Rankings for several seasons now.

No. 5 seed Del Potro and Nishikori, seeded 26^th, will face off for the first time since the Citi Open in Washington last season, which saw the Japanese emerge victorious in two sets in the third round. However, their other 2017 meeting went the way of Del Potro, in the third round of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Rome. Overall, Del Potro leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head 5-2. 

“It could be a very difficult match for me. Kei has a very good two-handed backhand and good returns. And he’s playing well,” said last week’s BNP Paribas Open champion after his three-set victory over Robin Haase in his opening match. “He feels 100 per cent, free of pain on his wrist. And he’s a dangerous guy on Tour. I mean, if he has a good day, he can beat all of the other players. I must play even better than tonight.” 

The match will pit the might of the Del Potro forehand against the precision of the Nishikori backhand, two of the most electric shots on the ATP World Tour. While history has shown that the Argentine has been able to hit through Nishikori more than the Japenese has been able to outlast Del Potro from behind the baseline, their combined experience in big-match moments is sure to yield a fascinating contest on Crandon Park’s Stadium court. 

Later in the day, No. 3 seed and 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov squares off against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy for a spot in the fourth round.

The two haven’t faced each other since 2016, but if their previous encounters are anything to go by, their third-round affair could be one two watch. Dimitrov owns their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 3-1, but each of their past three matches has gone the distance, including a decisive 10-8 third-set tie-break in Brisbane three years ago.

 Watch Full Match Replays

In a rematch of their Australian Open first-round battle, No. 2 seed Marin Cilic and Canadian Vasek Pospisil will take to the Grandstand court for a place in the fourth round.

Cilic has put together a successful 2018 season so far, and will be looking to hoist his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophy after claiming his first in Cincinnati back in 2016. Pospisil, who himself has posted a successful string of results on the ATP Challenger Tour, brings an 0-2 FedEx ATP Head2Head record into Sunday’s match with Cilic, but will attempt to use his versatile game and prowess at the net to push the World No. 3 a few steps further than their tight four-setter in Melbourne earlier this season. 

Former World No. 3 Milos Raonic and No. 13 seed Diego Schwartzman close out play at Crandon Park in an exciting third round clash of styles – and heights. Although they have met only once before with Raonic, then ranked at No.3 in the ATP Rankings, earning the win last year in Brisbane, the tides – and rankings – have taken a noteworthy turn since. Battling a variety of injuries, the Canadian’s ranking has tumbled; however, the eight-time tour-level titlist appears to be rounding back into form following a semi-final appearance at the BNP Paribas Open last week.

Schwartzman finds himself at a career-high of No. 16 in the ATP Rankings after posting strong results in 2018, including his first ATP World Tour 500 title at the Rio Open presented by Claro. The diminutive Argentine will have to muster his best counterpunching and passing shots if he’s to notch his first win over the 6’5” Canadian, who will be attacking the net behind his cannon of a service delivery.