This preview focuses on three opening-round matchups at the Miami Open: Coco Gauff against Alycia Parks, Jannik Sinner’s first match after Indian Wells, and Naomi Osaka meeting an in-form qualifier.

Gauff’s meeting with Parks presents a contrast in trajectories. Parks is 25 and Gauff 22. Gauff has been embedded in the Top 5 for three years, while Parks is still seeking a consistent breakthrough. Parks brings a big frame and a big game: she is 6’1, has a title to her name and has been ranked as high as No. 40. She is 105th in the rankings now and recorded a 23-32 record in 2025. Their only prior encounter ended 6-0, 6-2 in Gauff’s favor. The immediate form mark for Parks is encouraging: she has won two main-draw matches in Miami, and she handled former WTA No. 2 Maria Sakkari in comfortable, 6-3, 6-3 fashion on Friday. The Miami courts can play quick, which will give Parks opportunities to tee off, but Gauff’s speed and consistency make her the likely favorite.

Winner: Gauff

Sinner arrives after an emotional and physical run at Indian Wells. If he needed rest, he benefited from the opening-day rain delay and the fact his side of the draw played last; he will take the court for the first time on Saturday, six days after IW ended. Not that he sounded tired on Sunday: he said Miami was “very important” to him. Last year at this time he was serving a doping-related suspension, so he has little to defend until Rome in May. He returns against the 33-year-old, 76th-ranked Dzumhur, a player Sinner has never faced. Dzumhur is 3-7 this season, is listed at 5’9 and will give up about six inches to Sinner. He does not bring a booming serve or heavy groundstroke power but will fight for every game.

Winner: Sinner

The night match to watch pairs Naomi Osaka with a 21-year-old Australian qualifier, Gibson. Gibson won two qualifying matches in Indian Wells, then beat three Top 20 opponents—Alexandrova, Tauson, and Paolini—on her way to the quarterfinals. In Miami she won two more in the qualies, and steamrolled Sara Bejlek 1 and 0 in the first round. Osaka, who spent much of her youth in this part of Florida, is 17-8 at the Miami Open with a final-round appearance in 2022. Gibson carries momentum; Osaka brings experience and a deeper well of confidence. Expect baseline power and aggressive court positioning from both players.

World No. 8 Elina Svitolina began her Miami Open run with a composed 6-2, 6-4 victory over Australian wild card Emerson Jones at the WTA 1000 event on Friday night. The scoreline was tidy, and the result carried a wider significance for Svitolina’s 2026 season.

That’s on either the women’s OR the men’s tour. Svitolina’s win made her the first player this year to reach 20 tour-level victories across both tours. She is now 20-4 on the season, a clear margin at the top of the win list.

Svitolina’s total puts her two wins clear of the next player on the roll. Daniil Medvedev sits second with 18 tour-level wins, while Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina both enter their matches tonight aiming for their 18th. The numbers underline Svitolina’s consistency through the early months of 2026 and set a benchmark for rivals as the tour moves deeper into the hard-court swing.

On court in Miami, Svitolina combined aggressive baseline hitting with steady defense to close the match in straight sets. The victory advances her through the opening round of the WTA 1000 event and preserves the momentum she has built across the season.

Stat lines and standings like these are a reminder that form over a sustained stretch can be as telling as a single title run. Svitolina’s 20-4 record reflects both volume and a high winning percentage, and her position atop the 2026 wins list will be a talking point as the draw narrows at the Miami Open.

No. 4 seed Coco Gauff recovered from a set down to deny Elisabetta Cocciaretto a second consecutive win over her, prevailing 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 at the Miami Open. The match was contested at Hard Rock Stadium and, by one account, lasted two hours and 15 minutes.

Cocciaretto, the world No. 44 who had defeated Gauff in Doha and gone on to reach the quarterfinals there, took the opening set and pressed the reigning Roland Garros champion early. Gauff admitted the Doha result lingered. “The last time we played, I didn’t win, so I just wanted to overcome that feeling,” she said on court after the match. “It’s been a tough week but I don’t know, it made me realize how much I love this sport and I love playing it. Even though it’s tough, I think I enjoy the ups and downs through the journey.”

Cocciaretto’s ability to take the ball early troubled Gauff in the opening stages. “She takes the ball so early, so you don’t have a lot of time to react. Today, I think once I got adjusted to the tempo of play, I was able to control the rallies when they went the distance.” Gauff struggled with her range off the ground at times and continued to battle serve inconsistency, finishing the match with 11 double faults. Still, she maintained a steady first-serve percentage and won 63% of those points.

The American arrived in Miami after a rare mid-match retirement at the BNP Paribas Open, when she retired down a set and a break to Alexandra Eala. On her fitness she said, “I may feel it sometimes on court, but I definitely feel it less and less every day, if that makes sense,” she explained during her Media Day press conference .

Down a break to begin the third set, Gauff rallied to win four straight games and secured the decisive break to close out the match in just over two hours, advancing to the next round.