Women’s second round action begins on Thursday, including Major champions like Victoria Azarenka and Elena Rybakina, as well as American top seeds Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff.

The highest profile WTA match of the day sees Azarenka, a three-time Miami Open champion, face Italy’s Camila Giorgi, who is always a threat on a faster hard court.  Meanwhile, men’s first round action concludes on Thursday, headlined by 2020 US Open champ Dominic Thiem facing Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego.

Each day, this preview will analyze the two most intriguing matchups, while highlighting other notable matches on the schedule.  Thursday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time.

Lorenzo Sonego vs. Dominic Thiem (WC) – Not Before 7:00pm on Stadium Court

Dominic Thiem continues to struggle to regain his form after missing nearly a year of action due to a wrist injury.  He showed some signs of his former self during the fall, reaching the semifinals of both Gijon and Antwerp.  However, he is just 1-8 at all levels to start 2023, with his only win coming on clay in Buenos Aires over Alex Molcan.  Thiem has lost two of his last three matches in a final-set tiebreak, including two weeks ago to Adrian Mannarino at Indian Wells, a tournament Dominic won four years ago.

Sonego was ranked as high as 21^st in the world just 18 months ago, but is now 59^th, and owns a 5-8 record in 2023.  Yet it’s worth noting he’s also had some tough draws.  Five of those eight losses have come against top 20 opposition.

These players have split two previous meetings., both on clay.  In 2019 in Kitzbuhel, Thiem prevailed in straight sets.  In 2021 in Rome, Sonego prevailed in an epic encounter on his home soil, claiming a third-set tiebreak after nearly three-and-a-half hours.  While neither man arrives in Miami with much confidence, it’s hard to favor Dominic until he gets back to his winning ways.

Camila Giorgi vs. Victoria Azarenka (14) – Not Before 7:00pm on Grandstand Court

Azarenka’s three Miami titles came in 2009, 2011, and 2016, defeating Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, and Svetlana Kuznetsova in those finals.  She is 38-10 lifetime in Miami, and 10-6 on the season, with half of those victories coming during her semifinal run at the Australian Open.

Giorgi is also 10-6 this year, with half of her wins coming during her title run last month at a hard court event in Merida.  In the first round on Tuesday, she survived a dramatic affair against another of the WTA’s hardest hitters, defeating Kaiai Kanepi in a match that consisted of three tiebreak sets and lasted over three-and-a-half hours.

Giorgi leads their head-to-head 2-1.  That includes a victory nine years ago on grass, as well as a win five years ago on a hard court, though Azarenka retired after only eight games in that match.  Most recently, four years ago on a hard court in Toronto, Vika won in straight sets.  On Thursday, I give Azarenka the edge in a city where she has enjoyed much success, especially considering Giorgi may be a bit physically depleted after her opening round.

Other Notable Matches on Thursday:

Jessica Pegula (3) vs. Katherine Sebov (Q) – Pegula is 15-5 in 2023, and lost a heartbreaker at Indian Wells to Petra Kvitova in an extended third-set tiebreak, during which both players held multiple match points.  Sebov is a 24-year-old Canadian who has claimed two ITF-level hard court titles within the past few months.

Rebecca Marino vs. Coco Gauff (6) – Gauff is 14-4 this season, and is just 3-3 lifetime at her home state’s biggest event.  Marino is a 32-year-old Canadian who has taken several extended breaks from competitive tennis, but won 49 matches at all levels last year.  At the 2022 French Open, Coco defeated Rebecca 7-5, 6-0.

Elena Rybakina (10) vs. Anna Kalinskaya – Rybakina is now 16-4 on the year, coming off her Indian Wells title run last week, where she avenged her Australian Open final loss to Aryna Sabalenka.  Kalinskaya is 6-4 in main draws this season, and while she’s never played Elena at tour level, she did defeat her four years ago in the final of an ITF-level event in Australia.

Thursday’s full Order of Play is here.

Bianca Andreescu is into the second round of the Miami Open after beating Emma Raducanu 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in two hours and 33 minutes on Stadium Court.

The Toronto native hit 33 winners and served seven aces in a match that went the distance. Andreescu saved 11 out of the 12 break points she faced and broke her rival three times en route to victory.

“You never know what you are going to expect and I wanted to come in today playing my best,” the former US Open champion said afterwards. ” With what I had I think I did that and Emma played amazing. She is an incredible player”.

Andreescu opened the match by breaking the London native in the first game and that break of serve was enough for her to serve out the first set quite comfortably.

The second set stayed on serve until 4-3 when Raducanu had multiple breakpoints and managed to break the Canadian on her seventh opportunity. She then served out the set to send the match into a deciding third set where the Toronto native bounced back and at 3-2 broke Raducanu once again to take the lead.

Andreescu broke serve once again while the Brit was serving to stay in the match to secure the win. After the match in her post-match on-court interview, she was asked what made her so dangerous today.

“I didn’t let my negative emotions get the best of me and I stayed positive,” she replied. “I was very energetic and I never gave up and that really key for me today”.

The Canadian will next face the number seven seed Maria Sakkari in the second round.

On Wednesday, Major champions Bianca Andreescu and Emma Raducanu will meet in a blockbuster first round matchup.

Main draw action is already underway in Miami.  The women’s singles draw started play on Tuesday, with the men joining them on Wednesday.  Just like Indian Wells, the top 32 singles seeds receive first round byes, so the big names will begin play later this week.

Those top names include Indian Wells champion Carlos Alcaraz, who needs to defend this Miami title in order to maintain the No.1 ranking he just regained on Monday.  WTA No.1 Iga Swiatek looks to defend this title after failing to do so at Indian Wells, and is one of 11 Major singles champions in the women’s draw, which also includes Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka and newly-crowned Indian Wells champ Elena Rybakina.

Each day, this preview will analyze the two most intriguing matchups, while highlighting other notable matches on the schedule.  Wednesday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time.

Bianca Andreescu vs. Emma Raducanu – 12:00pm on Stadium Court

Andreescu is just 6-6 on the year, but played well against Swiatek earlier this month at Indian Wells.  She’s only played the Miami Open twice, reaching the fourth round in 2019, and the final in 2021, eventually retiring during that championship match against Ash Barty.

Raducanu is 5-3 in 2023, and also lost to Swiatek at Indian Wells.  While Emma only managed to claim four games against the World No.1, but she did manage to win three matches earlier in the event.  Raducanu made her Miami Open debut last year, losing her opening round match 7-5 in the third to Katerina Siniakova.

Their only previous meeting did not reveal much.  It took place last May on clay in Rome, with Andreescu prevailing after Raducanu retired during the second set.  Both players have suffered from many injuries of late, so hopefully they’re both fully healthy for what could be a great match if they are.  But based on recent form, as well as her previous success at this event, I like Bianca to win again on this day.

Sloane Stephens vs. Shelby Rogers – Not Before 7:00pm on Stadium Court

Stephens is just 4-6 to start the year, and lost in the first round of Indian Wells two weeks ago to another American, Sofia Kenin.  Sloane won this event in 2018, the only WTA 1000 title of her career.

Rogers is 5-6 this season, and had a losing record in 2022.  She’s only 5-4 lifetime in the main draw of the Miami Open, but two of her biggest results have come on American soil: a US Open quarterfinal as well as an Indian Wells quarterfinal.

Surprisingly, this is the first career meeting between these two WTA veterans.  Both are now 30-year-old, after Stephens celebrated her birthday on Monday.  I give Sloane the slight edge in this all-American matchup based on her superior movement, as well as her fond memories of playing in Miami.

Other Notable Matches on Wednesday:

Alexander Bublik vs. J.J. Wolf – Wolf reached the second week of the Australian Open in January, and the semifinals of the Dallas Open in February.  Bublik has struggled this season, losing his first eight matches in 2023.  This past October in Florence, Wolf defeated Bublik in three sets.

Andy Murray vs. Dusan Lajovic – Murray is now 8-4 on the year, and has played and won some of 2023’s most dramatic matches.  Lajovic is 7-5 this season, but hasn’t won a hard court match in six months.

Sofia Kenin vs. Storm Hunter (Q) – Kenin is 6-7 this year, but is showing signs of her 2020 level, losing two very competitive sets at Indian Wells against Rybakina.  Storm has not won a WTA tour main draw singles match in nearly two years.

Ugo Humbert vs. Gael Monfils (PR) – Monfils is 0-2 at all levels since returning from an extended injury leave.  His fellow countryman is a former top 25 player who reached a Challenger final on a hard court earlier this month.

Wednesday’s full Order of Play is here.