Friday features second round action in both the men’s and women’s singles draws.
For the second consecutive tournament, 2022 champion Iga Swiatek plays her opening round against Caroline Garcia. At Indian Wells, Swiatek comfortably defeated Garcia 6-2, 6-0. Can Caroline challenge Iga on the faster-playing courts in Miami?
Friday also sees former champions Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Victoria Azarenka, and Daniil Medvedev make their 2025 Miami Open debuts. Plus, Mirra Andreeva, winner of the last two WTA 1000 events, looks to extend her winning streak.
Each day, this preview will analyze the two most intriguing matchups, while highlighting other notable matches on the schedule. Friday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time.
Caroline Garcia vs. Iga Swiatek (2) – 12:00pm on Stadium
Swiatek is 18-5 during the 2025 season, but is coming off a disappointing loss in the semifinals of Indian Wells to 17-year-old Andreeva, where Iga acted like the more immature player. She drew a lot of criticism for nearly hitting a ball boy when smacking a ball in frustration, so much so that Swiatek made a lengthy Instagram post about it this week, where she referred to such judgments as “harsh.” While her on-court tantrum was unfortunate, Iga’s frustration is understandable, considering she hasn’t won a title in nearly a year, and hasn’t reached a WTA final during that span either.
However, Garcia’s recent on-court struggles have been much more pronounced. The former World No.4 is currently ranked 74th, and ended her 2024 season early due to mental health concerns. Since returning, she’s just 3-5 this year, though she did win her opening round in straight sets. And Caroline was a quarterfinalist here a year ago, when she earned victories over both Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff
Overall Swiatek is 5-1 against Garcia, with Caroline’s only victory surprisingly coming on clay, back in 2022. But Garcia did push Swiatek to three sets in two of their recent encounters, and the speed of the Miami courts are much more to her liking than Indian Wells. Caroline can often yield strong results with her aggressively-close return position. Yet based on recent form, and how easily Iga prevailed just two weeks ago, Swiatek remains a considerable favorite on Friday afternoon.
Gael Monfils vs. Jiri Lehecka (26) – Third on Court 7
It’s been a great start to the season for Monfils, who is 12-4 and was the champion in Auckland. He narrowly lost an over three-hour three-setter to Grigor Dimitrov at Indian Wells, but rebounded by winning a tight three-setter in the first round of Miami over Fabian Marozsan. That brought Gael’s Miami record to 16-12, with his best result a quarterfinal appearance back in 2016.
Lehecka comes into this match on a three-match losing streak, despite beginning the year by winning his first eight matches, and winning a title in Brisbane. But none of those three losses were embarrassing, as they came against notable opposition: Jack Draper, Ugo Humbert, and Cam Norrie. The 23-year-old is just 2-2 lifetime in Miami.
Jiri won their only previous matchup, though that was on clay two years ago when Gael was ranked outside the world’s top 300 after a long injury layoff. However, as well as Monfils has played of late, Lehecka’s powerful game can be hard to counteract, and he feels due for a win. Jiri may also benefit from this match (oddly) being scheduled on one of the smaller courts on the grounds, as we know Gael loves performing in front of a big crowd. I give Lehecka the slight edge in what should be a close contest on Friday.
Other Notable Matches on Friday:
Daniil Medvedev (7) vs. Jaume Munar – Medvedev won this tournament two years ago, and it’s been nearly as long since he’s won any event. As per Tennis Abstract, Munar is only 28-57 in his career on hard courts.
Rinky Hijikata vs. Novak Djokovic (4) – Djokovic arrives in Miami on a three-match losing streak, after making an early exit from Indian Wells at the hands of Botic van de Zandschulp. Just a few months ago in Brisbane, Novak beat Rinky 6-3, 6-3.
Veronika Kudermetova vs. Mirra Andreeva (11) – Andreeva has now won 12 matches in a row, after claiming back-to-back WTA 1000 titles in Dubai and Indian Wells. Kudermetova was a top 10 player back in 2022, and is a two-time WTA 1000 semifinalist, though she hasn’t advanced beyond the third round at this level in nearly two years.
Karolina Muchova (15) vs. Victoria Azarenka – Azarenka is a three-time Miami Open champion, winning this event in 2009, 2011, and 2016. She is 1-1 against Muchova, who is just 5-2 lifetime in Miami.
Belinda Bencic vs. Elina Svitolina (22) – Bencic is an excellent 18-5 this season, while Svitolina is a modest 9-5. These players have split four previous meetings, though they haven’t played since 2019.
David Goffin vs. Carlos Alcaraz (2) – Alcaraz is 15-3 on the year, and is 13-3 at this tournament, which he won back in 2022. His head-to-head against Goffin stands at 1-1, with David surprisingly upsetting him a few years ago on an indoor hard court.
Friday’s full Order of Play is here.
