The second round of the Miami Masters 1000 will begin on Friday with a blockbuster matchup featuring Alex de Minaur and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Young Moise Kouame tries to keep his run on Jiri Lehecka.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. (5) Alex de Minaur
De Minaur and Tsitsipas will be playing for the 16th time in their careers when they meet in the second round of the Miami Open on Friday. This is undoubtedly one of the most ridiculous head-to-head matchups on tour, as Tsitsipas holds a 13-2 lead over De Minaur (11-1 at the ATP level). They have not faced each other since 2024, when De Minaur secured a rare victory in Acapuclo only to see Tsitsipas cruise by 6-1, 6-2 on the red clay of Rome.
However, there is good news for the Aussie – and it has everything to do with his rival. Tsitsipas has fallen off a cliff in recent seasons, so much so that the Greek player, 27, has never been eliminated in Miami ranked at number 51. He did well to beat qualifier Arthur Fery 6-1, 7-6(4) on Thursday, but that does not at all suggest that he is about to eliminate an opponent ranked sixth in the world. De Minaur is 12-4 in 2026 and has yet another fourth-round appearance in this Masters 1000 event.
Pick: De Minaur at 2
(WC) Moise Kouame vs. (21) Jiri Lehecka
Kouame became the youngest player since Rafael Nadal in 2003 (Hamburg) to win a main-draw match at the Masters 1000 tournament when the 17-year-old defeated Zachary Svajda 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday. It was an admirable effort by Kouame, but it was also a funny third set where Kouame struggled for a long time with cramps and double-faulted seven times (11 in total in the match) yet was able to win thanks to a terrible game by Svajda. The Frenchman, who just turned 17 on March 6, is already in the top 400 and has just emerged from a successful tour of Montpellier. Kouame is 18-5 overall this season with two Futures titles.
Next up for the youth on Friday is Lehecka, who struggled this year to record a record of 6-5. The 22nd-ranked Czech has yet to win more than two matches at any event (he reached the quarterfinals in Doha and Dubai). Normally this would be a winnable game for the young guy, but it’s hard to see him recovering mentally or physically after his biggest win yet.
Select: Lehecka in 2
