A year after appearing at No. 908 in the ATP rankings on March 17, 2025, Rafael Jodar has accelerated into the tour’s higher levels and stands poised to enter the Top 100 by the end of the Sunshine Double. The Madrid-born 19-year-old, who had been a freshman at the University of Virginia, turned professional and quickly began compiling results across the Challenger and ATP circuits.

Jodar won two qualifying matches at Hard Rock Stadium and then secured his first main-draw victory at an ATP Masters 1000 event, defeating Yannick Hanfmann, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1. Speaking during a marketing shoot at Indian Wells, Jodar said of stepping onto the sport’s biggest stages in 2026, “It’s a great opportunity to share the court with these players that I’ve been watching since I was very young. I’m super grateful for all the work I’ve been doing these past seasons and years. Let’s take this and try to maximize the opportunity to give my best tennis level.”

His ascent owes much to a breakout 2025 on the ATP Challenger Tour. While ranked outside the Top 900, he reached the semifinals at Morelos in April and went on to capture three hard-court titles, including one on his college campus in Charlottesville, alongside four additional semifinal appearances. “All those matches helped me a lot, to get a lot of experience. I learned a lot from the matches, even the ones that didn’t go the way I wanted,” he said. “At the end of the day, playing against different types of games and opponents is what matters.”

Jodar earned one of eight spots at December’s NexGen ATP Finals in Jeddah and opted to forgo his remaining NCAA eligibility before the new year. He opened 2026 with a runner-up finish at the Canberra Challenger, advanced through three Australian Open qualifying rounds and claimed his first major match win over Rei Sakamoto in a fifth set. Early-season ATP victories followed at Delray Beach (250) and Acapulco (500) in February as he continued his climb.

Asked about rankings, Jodar was measured. “It would be nice to be in the Top 100 but it’s not a thing that is one of the main goals this year. The main goal is to improve, to get better every day,” he said.

Carlos Alcaraz, who worked with Jodar at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals in Malaga when Jodar served as a hitting partner, praised his temperament and game. “I really like the way that he plays. No fear. Having no respect to anybody when he step in the court,” Alcaraz said. “Off the court he’s a really nice guy. Have huge respect to everybody who’s in the tour. But once he step in the court, he believes in himself and he believes he can beat anybody.

“So that’s what I like the most (about) him. For me, it’s not surprising at all how good he’s doing in the tour and how far he’s breaking in the tour and being close to the Top 100.”

Reflecting on that relationship as our conversation ended, Jodar added, “He’s super close, a very good human being. I’m very happy with the way he treats the other Spanish players.”

Joao Fonseca overcame Fabian Marozsan 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in a one-hour, 50-minute first-round match on Stadium Court to set up a second-round meeting with ATP world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz. The 19-year-old Brazilian, unseeded at the Hard Rock Stadium, was one of the draw’s most dangerous floaters after a strong run through the Sunshine Swing.

After an injury-addled start to his 2026 season, Fonseca has rediscovered form. He arrived in Miami on the back of back-to-back wins over Karen Khachanov and Tommy Paul and a near-upset of world No. 2 Jannik Sinner in Indian Wells, where he forced Sinner into a pair of tiebreakers. Fonseca also came to Miami to mark the anniversary of his Masters 1000 breakthrough, when he reached the third round and began to emerge as his country’s brightest young star.

Tournament director James Blake had promised Fonseca would play on the bigger courts to accommodate his large following. “Fonseca needs to be on Stadium,” Blake said earlier this week. “He will be, yes.” The first-round match itself had been delayed by inclement weather at the start of the tournament.

Fonseca took the opening set after a long break, saving a break point to serve it out, but Marozsan rallied in the second. Marozsan already boasts a win over the reigning Roland Garros, US Open and Australian Open champion, having stunned the Spaniard at the 2023 Internazionali BNL d’Italia, and he forced a decider on Miami’s main court.

In the third set Fonseca’s forehand proved decisive. He won the opening three games, broke again and closed the match in just under two hours, sealing a notable victory on Stadium Court. The upcoming meeting with Alcaraz will be their first head-to-head. Alcaraz began 2026 16-0 before suffering his first loss in the BNP Paribas Open semifinals to Daniil Medvedev.

Moise Kouame announced himself on a big stage at the Miami Open with a first-round victory that carried immediate historical weight. The newly 17-year-old Frenchman, who celebrated his birthday on March 6, defeated American Zacahary Svajada 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 to become the youngest man to record a match win at Masters 1000 level since Rafael Nadal in 2003 and the fourth-youngest in the category’s history.

Kouame’s win also marked the first tour-level victory for an ATP player born in 2009. The 6-foot-3 right-hander, ranked No. 385 entering the tournament, survived a tense moment at 3-4 in the second set when he fell behind 0-40 and was five points from defeat. He then won 14 of 16 points from that position to force a decider and battled through cramps late in the match to close out a two-hour, 17-minute contest.

After the win, a stunned Kouame could not hide his emotion and smiled broadly as he reflected on the result. “It’s big, it’s huge,” he said. “It’s cool because I’m on the list with all these champs,” he added. “It brings me a lot of confidence and shows me I’m on the right path, I just need to keep working.”

Kouame spoke plainly about his ambitions, calling his goals “big” and “huge” and expressing his desire to reach the sport’s summit. “I hope one day it won’t be dreams and it will be reality. This is really what I’m working for,” he said.

The victory drew attention from established figures in the sport. Kouame revealed that Novak Djokovic sent him a congratulatory message on Instagram. “I’m so nervous; I don’t know what to answer!” he confessed. “Imagine having your idol DM you like this … this is too much for me! It’s the coolest thing ever.”