MIAMI : Jack Draper and Casper Ruud suffered early exits at the Miami Open on Friday, while Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka advanced after a rain-disrupted day that forced scheduling changes.
Britain’s Draper was beaten 7-6(3) 7-6(0) by American Reilly Opelka in the second round, with the big-serving home player hammering 25 aces and 47 winners to reach the last 32.
Draper, playing only his second ATP Tour event since returning from an arm injury, did not surrender serve but failed to make inroads on Opelka’s delivery.
“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?”
Ruud, the 11th seed, was also sent packing as American Ethan Quinn claimed the biggest win of his career with a 6-4 7-6(7) victory.
Quinn saved seven set points in the second set to reach the third round of a Masters 1000 event for the first time.
Italy’s Matteo Berrettini added to the upsets by defeating 10th seed Alexander Bublik 6-4 6-4.
Persistent rain in Miami Gardens caused further delays and pushed a number of matches into Saturday, with Sabalenka’s meeting with Ann Li moved to a secondary court.
The world number one, fresh from her Indian Wells title, battled past the American 7-6(5) 6-4 to book her place in 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 Alcaraz also progressed with little fuss, beating Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca 6-4 6-4.
In the women’s draw, fourth seed Coco Gauff and seventh seed Jasmine Paolini both recovered from a set down to beat Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Taylor Townsend respectively.
Sixth seed Amanda Anisimova also advanced, overcoming Ajla Tomljanovic 6-1 5-7 6-4 after a rain delay interrupted her attempt to serve out the match in the second set.
Elena Rybakina, seeded second in the women’s draw, defeated fellow Kazakh Yulia Putintseva 6-3 6-3.
