Denis Shapovalov moved past Luciano Darderi 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 after 2 hours and 20 minutes to advance to the second round at the Miami Open.
Shapovalov hit 16 aces and faced one break point.
Shapovalov converted his fifth break point in the first game after a double fault from Darderi. The Canadian player earned two break points in the seventh game and converted his second chance with a backhand winner to race out to a 5-2 lead. Darderi pulled one of the two breaks back in the eighth game at deuce, but Shapovalov closed out the first set with his third break in the ninth game in 39 minutes.
Both players held on their serve en route to the tie-break. Darderi earned his first mini-break to take a 3-1 lead after a double fault from Shapovalov. The Canadian player pulled back on serve to draw level to 3-3. Darderi earned three set points at 6-3 with two mini-breaks and sealed the tie-break 7-3 in 58 minutes.
Shapovalov broke serve in the third game and held his serve at love to open up a 3-1 lead. Shapovalov held on his next serve in the next games and sealed the third set 6-4 on his second match point.
Shapovalov set up a second round match against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Flavio Cobolli came back from one set down to beat Yoshihito Nishioka 1-6 6-1 6-4. Nishioka broke twice in the second and seventh games to race out to a 5-1 lead and served out to 15 in the seventh game.
Cobolli saved two break points in the first game before breaking serve in the second game to open up a 3-0 lead. Cobolli saved two break points in the fifth game to hold serve at deuce before breaking serve in the sixth game to race out to a 5-1 lead. The Italian player served out the second set at love.
Nishioka saved two break points to hold serve after three deuces in the first game.
Cobolli earned the crucial break at 30 in the ninth game with a passing shot down the line and served out the win on his first match point. Cobolli will meet Cameron Norrie for the first time in his career in the second round.
