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.

Carlos Alcaraz’s third-round loss to Sebastian Korda at the Miami Open prompted questions about the Spaniard’s form, but Rafael Nadal dismissed the idea that the result signals a crisis.

The 22-year-old bowed out in Miami for the second year running. His 2026 record stands at 17–2, yet Nadal told reporters in Madrid on Tuesday that criticism is exaggerated. “I mean, when he’s just come off winning the Australian Open, he’s won seven Grand Slams, he’s No. 1 in the world… So, what? Is he supposed to win all of the matches of the year?” Nadal told press. “That’s never going to happen. So there’s your answer.”

Alcaraz’s Sunshine Swing had mixed results. He reached the semifinals in Indian Wells before being upset by No. 11 seed Daniil Medvedev. In Miami he won one match, a high-profile victory over Joao Fonseca, then fell in three sets to No. 32 Sebastian Korda, a result described as the American’s biggest career win.

Nadal argued that a title-less March should not erase Alcaraz’s achievements earlier in the season. The Spaniard captured the Australian Open, becoming the youngest man to complete the Career Grand Slam, won an ATP 500 title in Doha, retained the world No. 1 ranking and extended a 16-match unbeaten run that ended at Indian Wells. “Are we really going to worry about two defeats? I don’t think so,” Nadal said. “That doesn’t make sense, and we shouldn’t demand more from him.”

Nadal, who received an honorary doctorate for excellence in sport from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, reflected on the pressures placed on young players in Spain and urged perspective. “I think what we all have to do is just congratulate Carlos and thank him for everything that he’s accomplishing,” he said. “In the end, he’s bringing a number of achievements to Spanish sport that, maybe 25 or 30 years ago, we wouldn’t have imagined…

“Maybe we’ve all gotten too used to it. But I’ve never lost perspective on how difficult the things are that Carlos is doing—or any athlete from Spain, or any other country.”

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.