Simona Halep returned to tournament tennis today at the Miami Open following an 18-month hiatus from competition. Despite being defeated by Spain’s Paula Badosa 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, she exited the court with a smile. She told attending media:
“I would rate it as a special day, honestly, considering the period I had. Playing so well, feeling so well on court, feeling so well outside of the court with so many people that are very nice to me and giving me the love, I would say that this day is going to stay very special for me.
Of course, I had many results in the past, big results. But here it’s something more than tennis, it’s something personal. I really love to see that people are appreciating me beside tennis and beside everything that happened.”
Media Availabilities Wednesday
Three more pre-tournament media availabilities will be held Wednesday. These interviews, which will not be transcribed, will be conducted as press conferences in the main interview room at Hard Rock Stadium. The schedule is as follows:
12:00 – Iga Swiatek
2:30 – Jannik Sinner
4:00 – Coco Gauff
Moms Osaka, Kerber, Make Miami Returns
Major champions Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber will return to Miami after missing last year’s event while on maternity leave. Osaka, the 2022 runner-up, will play under the lights at 7 pm against Elisabetta Cocciaretto. Osaka gave birth to her daughter, Shai, in July. Kerber, who lost to Osaka in the 2022 second round, opens the day session against fellow Grand Slam tournament winner Wednesday when she battles Sloane Stephens. Kerber gave birth to her daughter, Liana, last February.
Men Begin Main Draw Wednesday
While two-time Miami Open champion Andy Murray may be the leading man playing at Hard Rock Stadium Wednesday when he faces former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini, a young Florida native will be looking to steal the spotlight. Darwin Blanch, a 16-year-old who grew up in Deerfield Beach, Fla., will make his ATP Tour debut when he faces Tomas Machac. In 2023, Blanch reached the semifinals in juniors at both the French Open and Wimbledon.
ORDER OF PLAY – WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2024
STADIUM start Not Before 12:00 PM
WTA – Sloane Stephens (USA) vs Angelique Kerber (Germany)
ATP – Tomas Machac (Czech Republic) vs [WC] Darwin Blanch (USA)
ATP – Andy Murray (Great Britain) vs [PR] Matteo Berrettini (Italy)
Not Before 7:00 PM – Night Session
WTA – Elisabetta Cocciaretto (Italy) vs Naomi Osaka (Japan)
Not Before 8:30 pm
ATP – Alex Michelsen (USA) vs [Q] Lukas Klein (Slovakia)
GRANDSTAND start 11:00 am
ATP – Luciano Darderi (Italy) vs [PR] Denis Shapovalov (Canada)
WTA – Shelby Rogers (USA) vs [WC] Linda Fruhvirtova (Czech Republic)
Not Before 2:00 PM
WTA – Donna Vekic (Croatia) vs Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic)
WTA – [Q] Katie Volynets (USA) vs Sofia Kenin (USA)
Not Before 7:00 pm
ATP – Marcos Giron (USA) vs Dominik Koepfer (Germany)
BUTCH BUCHHOLZ start 11:00 am
WTA – Magdalena Frech (Poland) vs Camila Giorgi (Italy)
WTA – [LL] Bernarda Pera (USA) vs Danielle Collins (USA)
WTA – [Q] Nadia Podoroska (Argentina) vs Ashlyn Krueger (USA)
ATP – [WC] Martin Damm (USA) vs Zhizhen Zhang (China)
ATP – Arthur Fils (France) vs Matteo Arnaldi (Italy)
COURT 1 start 11:00 am
WTA – Elina Avanesyan vs [WC] Erika Andreeva
ATP – Jack Draper (Great Britain) vs Taro Daniel (Japan)
ATP – Max Purcell (Australia) vs Marton Fucsovics (Hungary)
ATP – Miomir Kecmanovic (Serbia) vs [WC] Juncheng Shang (China)
WTA – [Q] Storm Hunter (Australia) vs Martina Trevisan (Italy)
COURT 7 start 11:00 am
WTA – Varvara Gracheva (France) vs [Q] Maria Timofeeva
WTA – [Q] Claire Liu (USA) vs Petra Martic (Croatia)
WTA – Sara Sorribes Tormo (Spain) vs Arantxa Rus (Netherlands)
COURT 5 start 11:00 am
ATP – Rinky Hijikata (Australia) vs Botic van de Zandschulp (Netherlands)
Not Before 12:30 pm
ATP – [LL] Yoshihito Nishioka (Japan) vs Flavio Cobolli (Italy)
ATP – [Q] Thiago Seyboth Wild (Brazil) vs Nuno Borges (Portugal)
COURT 2 start 11:00 am
ATP – Pavel Kotov vs Luca Van Assche (France)
Not Before 12:30 pm
ATP – Chris O’Connell (Australia) vs [Q] Vit Kopriva (Czech Republic)
ATP – Pedro Cachin (Argentina) vs [Q] Andrea Vavassori (Italy)
COURT 3 start 11:00 am
WTA – Marie Bouzkova (Czech Republic) vs Lin Zhu (China)
WTA – Tatjana Maria (Germany) vs [Q] Emiliana Arango (Colombia)
WTA – Viktoriya Tomova (Bulgaria) vs [LL] Tamara Korpatsch (Germany)
SCORES
Women’s Singles – First Round
[WTA] Paula Badosa (Spain) def. [WC] Simona Halep (Romania) 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 [WTA] Diana Shnaider def. [WC] Venus Williams (USA) 6-3, 6-3 [WTA] [WC] Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) def. Clara Burel (France) 6-1, 6-4 [WTA] [Q] Taylor Townsend (USA) def. Lucia Bronzetti (Italy) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 [WTA] Peyton Stearns (USA) def. Yafan Wang (China) 6-2, 6-2
[WTA] Xinyu Wang (China) def. [WC] Hailey Baptiste (USA) 7-6(1), 6-3
[WTA] [Q] Clara Tauson (Denmark) def. Caroline Dolehide (USA) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
[WTA] Yulia Putintseva (Kazakhstan) def. Cristina Bucsa (Spain) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
[WTA] Daria Saville (Australia) def. Shuai Zhang (China) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
[WTA] Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) def. Ana Bogdan (Romania) 6-2, 6-4
[WTA] [WC] Brenda Fruhvirtova (Czech Republic) def. [Q] Maria Lourdes Carle (Argentina) 6-3, 6-3 [WTA] Yue Yuan (China) def. Anna Blinkova 6-4, 6-2
[WTA] [Q] Laura Siegemund (Germany) vs [Q] Aleksandra Krunic (Serbia) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
[WTA] Xiyu Wang (China) def. [Q] Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (Slovakia) 6-1, 6-3
[WTA] Diane Parry (France) def. Jaqueline Cristian (Romania) 7-6(2), 6-2 [WTA] Lesia Tsurenko (Ukraine) def. Magda Linette (Poland) 2-6, 6-1, 6-4
Men’s Qualifying Singles – Final Round
[ATP] [1] Thiago Seyboth Wild (Brazil) def. Hugo Grenier (France) 6-3, 6-4 [ATP] Emilio Nava (USA) def. [2] Yoshihito Nishioka (Japan) 7-5, 7-6(6) [ATP] Lukas Klein (Slovakia) def. [4] Jakub Mensik (Czech Republic) 7-6(6), 7-5[ATP] Adam Walton (Australia) def. [8] Pedro Martinez (Spain) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 [ATP] [9] Aleksander Kovacevic (USA) def. [24] Zizou Bergs (Belgium) 7-6(2), 6-2 [ATP] [10] Brandon Nakashima (USA) def. Terence Atmane (France) 1-1 RET. [ATP] Andrea Vavassori (Italy) def. Valentin Vacherot (Monaco) 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(3)
[ATP] [13] Roberto Baustista Agut (Spain) def. Otto Virtanen (Finland) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 [ATP] [WC] Coleman Wong (Hong Kong) def. [16] Sumit Nagal (India) 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 [ATP] Harold Mayot (France) def. [19] David Goffin (Belgium) 7-6(5), 6-2
[ATP] [21] Vit Kopriva (Czech Republic) def. [11] JJ Wolf (USA) 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 [ATP] [22] Diego Schwartzman (Argentina) def. [5] Arthur Rinderknech (France) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(1)