Match Report

Former finalists Ruud, Dimitrov start Miami campaigns with wins

Casper Ruud ended his recent ATP Masters 1000 drought on Friday at the Miami Open presented by Itau, where he won his first match at that level since Montreal in August.

The fifth-seeded Norwegian battled back to earn a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win against Miomir Kecmanovic and advance to the third round in Florida for the fourth consecutive year.

Ruud arrived in Miami off the back of a disappointing opening-round exit in Indian Wells and has not found his best level at Masters 1000 events since last August. After falling in the third round in Montreal, Ruud suffered opening-round defeats in Cincinnati, Shanghai and Paris in 2024.

While he was not at his best against Kecmanovic, the fifth seed struck 39 winners and crucially saved all four break points he faced in the third set, according to Infosys ATP Stats, to earn victory after two hours and six minutes and level his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with the Serbian at 3-3.

The 2022 Miami finalist, who is chasing his first ATP Masters 1000 title, will next meet Alejandro Tabilo or Corentin Moutet.

Earlier, Grigor Dimitrov ended the run of #NextGenATP Italian Federico Cina with a 6-1, 6-4 victory. The 17-year-old wild card Cina captured his first tour-level win in his opening match in Miami against Francisco Comesana but was unable to trouble Dimitrov, who struck 15 winners and committed 11 unforced errors.

A finalist in Miami last year, the 33-year-old Dimitrov will play Karen Khachanov in the third round.

Cina leaves Florida up two spots in 11th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah. Last week, the teen advanced to an ATP Challenger Tour final in Greece.

_{^{Cina in action in Miami. Photo Credit: Peter Staples/ATP Tour}}

Khachanov halted the Nick Kyrgios comeback with a 7-6(3), 6-0 win. Kyrgios defeated Mackenzie McDonald in the first round to earned his first tour-level win since October 2022 but was unable to overcome Khachanov, who reached the semis in Miami in 2023.

"With Nick you never know, he hasn't played much in the past two years," Khachanov said. "You never know what to expect about which Nick is coming. I saw his first match and he was playing really well. Today was the same. When you play Nick you have to stay calm, especially in the heat of the battle... I had to stay focused, mentally strong and it happened and I am proud of myself today."

Felix Auger-Aliassime began his Miami campaign with a 6-4, 6-4 win against Australian Tristan Schoolkate. Auger-Aliassime advanced to the semi-finals at the hard-court event in 2019 when he was just 18 but has not been beyond the third round in Florida since.

A two-time champion on the ATP Tour this season, Auger-Aliassime has earned a Tour-leading 17 wins and will aim to continue his impressive year against Lorenzo Musetti after the Italian defeated Quentin Halys 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-5.