Day 3 Preview: Qualifying Concludes and Main Draw Gets Underway
By Tucker Verdi
Former World No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam winner Victoria Azarenka of Belarus will inaugurate Stadium Court tomorrow against 2016 WTA Finals champion Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia at noon to begin play in the main draw of the 2019 Miami Open presented by Itaú.
That heavyweight matchup will be preceded by a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11:00AM to celebrate the Open’s move to Hard Rock Stadium, with Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Naomi Osaka on hand for the occasion.
Vika and Dominika will be immediately followed by Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia battling Bradley Klahn of the United States, followed itself by Aussie Bernard Tomic taking on 2010 Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic.
Indian Wells women’s singles champion Bianca Andreescu will take to the court to lead off Wednesday’s night session. The 19-year-old Canadian will face Irina-Camila Begu of Romania, with play beginning at 7:30PM at the earliest. That match will be followed by American Taylor Fritz and German Max Marterer.
Play on Day 3 will actually begin with the second round of qualifying matches that were postponed following a rained-soaked Day 2 at the tournament.
At 10:00AM, a host of American men begin play looking to book a spot in the main draw. Reilly Opelka takes on Marcos Granollers of Spain on Court 6, Mackenzie McDonald faces Lorenzo Sonego of Italy on Court 9, and Noah Rubin battles Mikael Ymer of Sweden on Court 2.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga — a 2008 Australian Open finalist and three-time finalist in Miami, will face Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay to secure his ninth main draw appearance at the Miami Open, and first in two years due to injury. That match will be the second on Court 1, immediately following the qualifying bout between Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime and Italian Paolo Lorenzi that begins at 10:00AM.
Also at 10:00AM, a trio of American women will vie for spots in the main draw as well. Sachia Vickery plays Iga Swiatek of Poland on Court 3, Taylor Townsend faces Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil on Court 5, and Jessica Pegula takes on Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands on Court 7.
Grandstand play will get underway at noon with Argentinian Federico Delbonis taking on Peter Gojowczyk of Germany — the first match of the men’s singles main draw.
Young American heavy-hitter Amanda Anisimova will walk onto Grandstand not before 2:00PM to take on Andrea Petkovic of Germany. That match will be followed by 2011 US Open champion Sam Stosur of Australia playing Evgeniya Rodina of Russia. The last match of the day session on Grandstand will feature crowd favorite and 2016 Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig taking on wild card Wang Xiyu of China.
The night session on Grandstand will be raucous with Nicolas Jarry of Chile — and his contingent of Chilean fans, taking on Frenchman Jeremy Chardy. The match is scheduled to begin at 7:00PM at the earliest.
Find the full order of play here, and get your tickets now!
All times are Eastern.
