The Miami Open brings another chapter in the recent rivalry between Elena Rybakina and Jessica Pegula. The pair have met at the Billie Jean King Cup, the WTA Finals, the Australian Open, Indian Wells and now Miami, with Rybakina holding a 4-0 edge in those meetings. Pegula has challenged her, taking sets and pushing tiebreaks, but Rybakina’s serve and court craft have remained decisive.

Both women arrive in Miami unbeaten in three matches and comfortable on the courts. Rybakina reached the final here in 2023 and 2024; Pegula made the final in 2025. One variable that could matter is the start time: the match is scheduled for 1:00 P.M., when conditions are expected to be warmer and quicker. Pegula prefers quick conditions and has not had them in recent meetings with Rybakina, which came at night in Melbourne and on the slower Indian Wells courts. That switch could help the American and add a few miles per hour to her game. Winner: Pegula

The bottom half of the ATP draw has produced intriguing quarterfinals. Martin Landaluce, a 20-year-old product of the Rafa Nadal Academy and the 2022 US Open boys champion, has been one of Miami’s breakthrough players. Counting qualifiers, he has won six matches here, three in three sets, and in his last match he recovered from a 6-2 first-set deficit to beat Sebastian Korda and saved a match point en route.

Landaluce meets Jiri Lehecka for the first time. Both play with efficient, easy power; Landaluce has momentum, while Lehecka, the 22nd-ranked veteran, has just beaten Taylor Fritz in his best match of the season. Fuel and composure are the deciding factors. Winner: Lehecka

Tommy Paul and Arthur Fils present another difficult call. The players are close in the rankings, with Paul 23rd and Fils 31st. Both are athletic, strike the ball well and have shown solid form this season — Paul at 14-6 and Fils 12-4 as he returns from a lengthy layoff. In Miami each survived at least one three-set match. Paul will have a home crowd and the evening conditions, while Fils is still rebuilding his rhythm. This one is a coin flip.

Jannik Sinner added another statistical milestone to his season by moving ahead of Roger Federer for the third-best career winning percentage in Masters 1000 events. The list, which dates back to 1990, now places Sinner behind only Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

The shift came after Sinner beat Alex Michelsen 7-5, 7-6 (4) in the fourth round of the Miami Open on Tuesday. Less than 24 hours earlier he had set a separate Masters 1000 mark by breaking the record for most consecutive sets won at those events.

Sinner entered Miami at No. 5 on the all-time Masters 1000 winning percentage list. The sequence of results around the third round altered the standings: Carlos Alcaraz fell out of the spot ahead of Sinner after losing his third-round match, and Sinner’s third-round victory moved him to .7786, immediately behind Federer.

With the fourth-round victory over Michelsen, Sinner improved his career Masters 1000 winning percentage to .7803 and passed Federer for third place. According to the current standings, he cannot rise higher than third on the list even if he wins the Miami Open.

The rapid progression up the Masters 1000 winning-percentage list has come alongside Sinner’s other form lines at these events this season, reinforcing his consistency at the highest level of the tour’s Masters series. The milestones underline a sustained run of results in tournaments that have been tracked since 1990 and place Sinner among the sport’s most efficient performers at the Masters 1000 level.

Jiri Lehecka leaned on aggression and timely serving to beat Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-2 and advance to the Miami Open quarterfinals. The No. 21 seed served 10 aces, saved all five break points he faced and closed out the victory in just under two and a half hours.

“I kind of felt that in the second set, I gave Taylor a little bit more time to play how he wants to,” the No. 21 seed told Prakash Amritraj. “I wasn’t feeling great, didn’t create that many chances.

“So, that’s why I needed to improve this in the third set, to be more aggressive from the return and finish points at the net.”

Lehecka’s win ended a matchup that Fritz had previously led 4-1 in their head-to-head. The American entered the fourth-round clash as the No. 6 seed but has struggled physically in recent months and had weighed an extended break from the game coming into the Masters 1000 event. Still, Fritz forced a deciding set after winning a second-set tiebreak.

“Against a player like he is, I really need to bring my ‘A’ game,” said Lehecka, who had never been past the third round in three previous main-draw appearances in Miami. “I need to serve well and I can’t give him any chance to feel comfortable on court. So, that’s what I was trying to do. Of course, it’s impossible to hold it the whole match, but I was close.”

Lehecka will meet Spanish qualifier Martin Landaluce in the last eight. The 20-year-old reached the quarterfinals by winning a third straight set to end No. 32 seed Sebastian Korda’s run, a day after Korda stunned world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in three sets.

“It gave me a signal to change something,” Lehecka said of the setback. “I needed to be a little bit more aggressive. Against a guy like him, who is serving incredibly, his return is one of the best on tour. I kind of feel that he can absorb the fast balls easily. At the same time, he can create the power by himself. Sometimes, when you play someone like Taylor, you feel like this guy has answers for everything. That’s what I didn’t want to feel today, and that’s why I was focusing more on the openings of the points. It worked well.”

“You always need to stay in the present, which is so easy to say, but when you’re on the court and the opponent plays well, you’re not feeling great and it’s the biggest challenge!” said Lehecka. “Today, I think my game helped me a little bit to feel good on court.”