The first day of play in Miami will take place in the outfield, as the field is not ready due to recent heavy rain. Grigor Dimitrov will be playing with Raphael Collignon; American Jenson Brooksby will face Zizou Bergs.
Grigor Dimitrov vs. Raphael Collignon
24 year old Raphael Collignon from Belgium is playing well right now. He splits his time between the Challenger circuit and the main tour. He won the Challenger event in Pau a few weeks ago and went to the residencies in Brisbane earlier in the season.
That he is kicking off his Miami campaign against Grigor Dimitrov is probably more fortunate than it sounds. Bulgaria’s number 44 has limped through the first 3 months of the season, with two complete wins and five losses to mark his efforts. Miami has historically been one of Dimitrov’s better events; was a semifinalist in 2025 and a finalist in 2024 at Hard Rock Stadium. Collignon has a legitimate shot at being upset. Dimitrov hasn’t been the same since he burst into tears at Wimbledon last summer when he led eventual champion Jannik Sinner to two sets to love.
Choose Cheryl: Collignon at 3
Ricky’s pick: Collignon at 3
Jenson Brooksby vs. Zizou Bergs
Jenson Brooksby has endured a difficult start to 2026. The 25-year-old is 4-6 this season so far, though he has shown some improvement in the past few weeks and was able to win a match in Indian Wells over Alexei Popyrin. Notably, Brooksby has already played Zizou Bergs on Wednesday last month in Dubai. The American won that match in regular straight sets.
Bergs is ranked No. 45 in the world, just a few spots behind Brooksby’s No. With Brooksby playing at home and confident of easy wins over the last few weeks, look for him to improve.
Cheryl chose: Brooksby at 2
Ricky pick: Brooksby at 2
