Félix Auger-Aliassime is set to make a comeback at the Miami tennis tournament, an event he’s had success at in the past. Meanwhile, Leylah Fernandez will try to defeat a strong opponent in the second round.
• Also read: Bianca Andreescu wins a duel of champions
Since the beginning of his career, the 22-year-old tennis player has twice played in the semifinals of a Masters 1000, one of which was in Miami in 2019. Since then, Auger-Aliassime has been stopped in the race for the third lap in 2021 and for the second lap the following year.
With a pass for this second leg, the fifth seed is waiting for his opponent on Friday. The winner of the duel between Brazilian Thiago Monteiro and Australian Jason Kubler has a chance to meet “FAA”.
On Fernandez’s side, she is still in contention after her opening win against veteran Lesia Tsurenko on Wednesday. Like her compatriot Bianca Andreescu, she has mastered her first challenge and is now turning her attention to the Swiss Belinda Bencic. This is the fifth confrontation between Lavalloise and the ninth-ranked player in the world, each winning two games.
Like Auger-Aliassime, the Ontar Denis Shapovalov will make his comeback against Argentinian Guido Pella on Friday. Andreescu will cross swords with Maria Sakkari.
The end of a great adventure
Katherine Sebov watched in action on Thursday as her fine run in Miami was thwarted by one of the tournament favorites, America’s Jessica Pegula. The third seed easily prevailed 6-3, 6-1 in straight sets in the second round.
24-year-old Sebov emerged from WTA anonymity by securing her place in the main draw via qualification, defeating 92nd player in the world Kamila Rakhimova and then surprising one of women’s tennis’ rising stars. Czech Linda Fruhirtova, 50th despite being 17, folded in the first round to the Torontonian.
From 172nd in the leaderboard, Sebov will climb to 146th in the next update, a personal high.